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Is it possible to upcast ritual spells?

For example, say I'm a level 11 bard that has the spells Leomund's Tiny Hut (LTH) or Alarm. LTH is a 3rd-level spell with the ritual tag; Alarm is a 1st-level spell with the ritual tag. Since they are rituals, they can be cast without expending a spell slot.

Is it possible to cast LTH or Alarm at, say, 6th level (Bards at 11th-level have one 6th-level spell slot) as a ritual, thus making it harder to dispel the enchantment?

The reason I ask this is that spells like LTH and Alarm are pretty good for setting up camp, but they can be dispelled by an attacking party with a simple Dispel Magic - and since they are a 3rd-level spell or lower, the spell effect is ended immediately without the enemy even needing to roll.

In my mind, if a spellcaster has the ability to cast spells at 6th level, they should be able to imbue a ritual spell they cast with that level of power, as a ritual.

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Ritual spells can't be cast at higher levels unless you spend a spell slot

The rules for rituals state that:

The ritual version of a spell takes 10 minutes longer to cast than normal. It also doesn't expend a spell slot, which means the ritual version of a spell can't be cast at a higher level

This means that when casting as a ritual the spell must be cast at its normal level. However do note that these spells can also be cast normally (emphasis mine):

Such a spell can be cast following the normal rules for spellcasting, or the spell can be cast as a ritual

So if you really want to have a higher level tiny hut, for example, you can spend a higher lvl slot to cast it normally.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ That also means that for someone with the feat Ritual Caster there is simply no way to cast them at a higher level right? \$\endgroup\$
    – Sebastiaan van den Broek
    Mar 15, 2019 at 4:27
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    \$\begingroup\$ @SebastiaanvandenBroek as long as you cast it as a ritual, you don't expend a spell slot, which then means no higher cast \$\endgroup\$
    – Vylix
    Mar 15, 2019 at 5:28
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No

From the Ritual rules:

It also doesn't expend a spell slot, which means the ritual version of a spell can't be cast at a higher level.

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A homebrew rule that my DM is considering for my Tomelock is just increase the ritual casting time per spell lvl. Say you want to ritual upcast to higher lvl, add 10 mins per lvl to the casting time.

1st lvl- 10 mins

3rd lvl- 30 mins

5th lvl- 50 mins

Just an idea though. Always discuss things w/ your DM if you want to do something cool & different.

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