# Does a cantrip count as a spell for the purpose of Wish's penalties?

Let's say I somehow am able to cast Wish, be it through a scroll, a Ring of Three Wishes, or some other DM-approved method. I then choose, instead of duplicating a spell, to imbue myself and my party members with resistance against, let's say, slashing damage.

Now, Wish states that "The stress of casting this spell to produce any effect other than duplicating another spell weakens you. After enduring that stress, each time you Cast a Spell until you finish a Long Rest, you take 1d10 necrotic damage per level of that spell."

My question, then, is: Would a cantrip still count as casting a spell and incur the 1d10 damage penalty, or would it not trigger since cantrips aren't assigned a level? Say you're a Warlock, and thus your usual go-to is the Eldritch Blast cantrip.

## You take 0(0d10) damage for casting a cantrip

Saying that "you take 1d10 necrotic damage per level of that spell" is the same as saying that you take Xd10 necrotic damage, where X is the level of the spell being cast.

That being the case, since "Cantrips [...] are level 0. (PHB 201)" you take 0d10 damage.

• I misunderstood @szega 's answer and didn't realize that they wrote essentially the same thing until after I had posted this answer. I went to delete my redundant answer, but the OP had selected it as the accepted answer, so I can't delete it now.
– user39671
Oct 16, 2017 at 21:34
• The asker possibly found additional value in the layout and phrasing differences. (Notably, you put the “bottom line” answer right at the beginning, which can be considered a material difference.) That's the site operating as designed, so it's okay. Oct 17, 2017 at 1:11
• Okay. I noticed the similarity after my answer was voted down and, as a new member of the community, I was worried that I had committed a faux pas.
– user39671
Oct 17, 2017 at 2:20
• So, the obvious question is whether taking 0d10 damage might trigger things that happen "when you take damage"... Oct 17, 2017 at 18:23
• @Brilliand Ah, OK, got it. Oct 17, 2017 at 23:55

The paragraph about spell levels states that:

Cantrips [..] are level 0. (PHB 201)

The wish spell does not state an exception to this rule (like, eg. the sorcerer metamagic twinned spell does) and so the general rule is applied. 0d10 damage is 0.

• I'm not very familiar with the rulebook, but there are probably some effects that amplify damage taken. (If this is wrong, please call me out.) Say you have an effect that says, "whenever you take n damage, take n*+ 3 damage instead." Or, "whenever you take *n damage, take n + 1d4 damage instead." Would these effects still apply even though n is 0? (If I am very misinformed, please tell me. I'm pretty much making this up on the spot.) Oct 16, 2017 at 23:55
• @OldBunny2800 Thats more likely to get an answer by posting it as a proper question post. (Though doing a quick skim of the free PDF of the D&D 5e Player's Basic Rules may be a good idea first, to demonstrate research effort.) Oct 17, 2017 at 3:53
• @GarretGang - The damage from Wish stress is not an attack or spell (and not from the bestower either), so the extra damage from the 4th bulleted idea for Bestow Curse would not apply. Mar 21, 2018 at 13:26
• @OldBunny2800 you don't actually take damage, though. Sure, you "roll" 0d10 damage, but since the results will be 0, you didn't take any damage. May 2, 2018 at 14:54