D&D Spell Cards: How to Print, Sort and Use Them at the Table

Your turn comes up, you cast Hold Person, and nobody at the table remembers when the target gets to repeat the save. D&D spell cards fix that by putting one spell on one card: level, casting time, range, components, duration, the Concentration and Ritual tags, and the full rules text, so a caster can take their turn without opening the book. Two decisions make the difference between a deck that helps and one that gets in the way: printing from the rules version your group plays (2024 or 2014), and printing only the cards your character can actually use. Almost nobody should print every spell in the game.

If you are…	Print this
A new player with a level 1 caster	Your cantrips and prepared spells, from 2 cards (Paladin) to 9 (Wizard)
A Cleric or Druid	Your class list up to your highest spell slot level, since you can swap after every Long Rest
A Wizard	Your spellbook, not the whole class list
A Bard, Sorcerer or Warlock	Only your current list, plus a few spares for your next level
A Paladin or Ranger	Your list, plus the always-prepared spells your class gives you
The GM	The spells your villains cast, in a separate stack

Why D&D spell cards beat the rulebook on your turn

Looking up a spell in the book is slow because its details are spread across a page you have to find while four other people wait. Nobody needs a card for Fireball; the problem spells are the ones you cast twice a campaign: the exact shape of Wall of Force, what Hold Person lets the target do at the end of each turn, whether that cantrip needs a free hand.

Cards also fix a quieter problem. A sheet with “Bless, Shield of Faith, Spiritual Weapon” written on it doesn’t remind you that all three need Concentration (Spiritual Weapon only since 2024), so you can hold just one at a time. A C badge on each card does. New players gain the most: choosing between six cards on the table is easier than choosing from a list of names they haven’t read yet.

What a good spell card has to show

Most cards get the top block right; the arguments mid-fight come from the details. Before you print a set, check three spells you know well against this list.

1. Casting time, range, components and duration sit in a fixed block at the top, in the same place on every card.
2. Concentration is flagged with a symbol you can spot from across the table, not buried in the duration line.
3. Ritual spells are marked too: cast as a Ritual, a prepared spell takes 10 minutes longer and costs no slot (Wizards can ritual-cast straight from the spellbook).
4. Material components with a cost, or that the spell consumes, are spelled out. “M” alone isn’t enough for Revivify.
5. The upcast rule is printed. In 2024 wording it’s a line called “Using a Higher-Level Spell Slot” (older cards say “At Higher Levels”), and damage cantrips get a “Cantrip Upgrade” line that says how they grow at levels 5, 11 and 17.
6. The full text is there. Cards that summarize long spells or say “see the book” bring back the problem.
7. Long spells continue onto a second card that’s clearly labeled. A font shrunk until nobody can read it fails this test.
8. The spell level is readable at a glance (a colored header or a big number) so you can sort and grab by level.
9. The class list is printed on the card, which helps when a multiclass character or a magic item muddies who can cast what.

If a set fails on 2, 5 or 6, skip it.

2024 or 2014 rules: check before you print

The fifth edition rules were revised in 2024 and many spells changed, so a deck built on the old text is wrong in small ways at a 2024 table, and vice versa.

Wizards of the Coast publishes the System Reference Document (SRD), the part of the rules anyone can reuse, under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. SRD 5.1 follows the 2014 rules. SRD 5.2 follows the 2024 core rules; the current SRD 5.2.1 came out on May 1, 2025. Wizards’ FAQ on that page says all its content “has been updated to 5.5e core rules wording and mechanics” and lists 20 spells new to the SRD, among them Hex, Chromatic Orb, Divine Smite and Ice Knife.

Three changes show why old cards cause trouble at a 2024 table:

• Counterspell. In the 2014 text, a spell of 3rd level or lower simply fails, and for higher spells you make an ability check. In the 2024 text, the enemy caster makes a Constitution saving throw, and if they fail, a spell cast with a slot doesn’t use up that slot.
• Spiritual Weapon. No Concentration in 2014; in 2024 it needs Concentration, so an old card lets a Cleric stack it with Bless.
• Divine Smite. In 2014 it was a Paladin class feature, so old decks have no card for it. In 2024 it’s a level 1 spell that Paladins always have prepared from level 2.

A note on names: the SRD renames a few spells to keep trademarks out, so “Black Tentacles” is the spell your rulebook names after a wizard, with the same rules.

If your group mixes both rulebooks, settle it before anyone prints, ideally at session zero: “Are we using the 2024 or the 2014 versions of spells?” Then print every card from the same version.

How many cards each class actually needs

The 2024 rules make every caster prepare spells, and the number is printed in each class table. Add cantrips and always-prepared spells and you have today’s card count. The counts below come from the class tables in SRD 5.2.1 and leave out subclass and feat spells, so add those yourself.

Class	Level 1	Level 5	Level 10	When you can swap spells
Bard	6	12	19	One spell when you gain a level
Cleric	7	13	20	Any number after a Long Rest
Druid	7	13	20	Any number after a Long Rest
Paladin	2	8	11	One spell after a Long Rest
Ranger	3	7	10	One spell after a Long Rest
Sorcerer	6	14	21	One spell when you gain a level
Warlock	4	9	14	One spell when you gain a level
Wizard (spellbook)	9	18	29	Any number from the spellbook after a Long Rest

Paladin numbers include Divine Smite from level 2 and Find Steed from level 5, Druid numbers include Speak with Animals, and Ranger numbers include Hunter’s Mark, since those classes always have them prepared. The Wizard row counts cantrips plus a spellbook that starts with six spells and gains two per level, with nothing copied from scrolls (the prepared list is smaller: 7, 13 and 20 cards). A spell that runs onto a second card adds one more. Nine poker-size cards fit on a sheet, so a level 5 Sorcerer (14 cards) prints two sheets and a level 10 Wizard (29 cards) prints four.

What the last column means for printing:

• Clerics and Druids can rebuild their list after every Long Rest, but only from spell levels they have slots for. Print the class list up to your highest slot level, and add a level when you gain it. A Cleric with level 3 slots needs the 58 Cleric spells of levels 0 to 3 in SRD 5.2.1, so about 60 cards and seven sheets (a long spell’s second card can push it to eight). Keep the spells you aren’t using in a back section of your deck box.
• Wizards print their spellbook and add cards as they copy new spells.
• Bards, Sorcerers and Warlocks change one spell per level, so print your list and the two or three spells you’re eyeing for next level.
• Paladins and Rangers sit in between: small lists, one swap per Long Rest. A dozen spare cards covers most campaigns.

Free generators, official decks, or a printable PDF

• Free generators such as SpellCards.app and TableMancer let you pick spells and export a PDF to print. SpellCards.app describes its cards as built for the 2024 rules, and TableMancer’s spell list can be filtered by source, including the free 5e SRD and the 2024 rules. Fine for a single character; test the version with Counterspell or Spiritual Weapon before printing a full sheet.
• Wizards of the Coast’s official Reference Cards launched in August 2026 and replace the old Spellbook Cards line. Per Wizards’ retailer announcement, the three spell decks are split by level (0–1, 2–3 and 4–5), follow the 2024 rules and carry full text. They need no cutting, but they stop at level 5. The older Spellbook Cards, if you find them on sale, use the 2014 text.
• Printable 5e spell cards in a PDF sit in the middle: you print only what your character needs, and you reprint when a card gets coffee on it.

That last option is what we built. The Complete Spell Card Deck has all 339 spells in SRD 5.2 on 391 poker-size cards, levels 0 through 9, plus eight separate class decks (from 38 Paladin spells up to 218 for the Wizard). It covers the SRD only, so spells that appear only in the Player’s Handbook or other books aren’t in it; write those on a few blank cards. The index marks Concentration and Ritual spells so you can tick off your list before printing, and long spells run onto a second card at full size. It comes in A4 and US Letter, and a class deck matched to a friend’s character makes an easy gift (more ideas in our gifts for dungeon masters). It’s an unofficial, 5E compatible product based on SRD 5.2 under the CC-BY-4.0 license, and isn’t affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.

Printing and cutting so they come out the right size

Spell cards are usually poker size, 2.5 × 3.5 inches (63.5 × 88 mm), so they fit standard card sleeves and deck boxes. Most of what goes wrong happens in the print dialog.

• Print at 100% or “Actual size”. “Fit to page” quietly shrinks every card.
• Print one test sheet and measure a card: it should be 63.5 mm (2.5 inches) wide.
• Use 200 to 250 gsm card stock (roughly 74 to 92 lb cover). Thinner paper curls; heavier stock jams many home printers. If yours has a rear or manual feed slot, use it.
• For card backs, print duplex with flip on the long edge, and test one sheet first: a wrong flip puts every back upside down. Cards without backs work just as well in opaque sleeves.
• Cut with a paper trimmer. Scissors work for one sheet, but by the fifth your cards are different sizes.
• Sleeve the cards. Sleeves protect against snack fingers and let you slide a slip of paper behind a card for notes, like the save DC you keep forgetting.

Sorting the deck so you can find a spell in five seconds

Order your stack by level, then alphabetically inside each level. The colored header on most decks makes this quick, and it matches how you think mid-fight: “I have a level 2 slot left, what can I do with it?”

Then split it into three sections, with a divider card or a blank card between each:

1. Today’s spells: cantrips and the spells you prepared at your last Long Rest. These go on the table.
2. Always prepared: Divine Smite, Find Steed, Hunter’s Mark, Speak with Animals, subclass spells. They stay on the table every session, so give them their own spot.
3. The reserve: the rest of your class list or spellbook. It stays in the box until your next Long Rest.

For a Cleric or Druid, the Long Rest swap then takes two minutes while the GM reads the morning’s events.

Running spell cards during a session

Lay your cards in a row above the character sheet, lowest-level spells on the left, highest on the right.

Track slots, not spells

In 5E, casting a spell uses up the slot, not the spell. With Cure Wounds prepared and three level 1 slots, you can cast it three times. Don’t flip a card when you cast it. Track your slots with one coin or token per slot, set on the level header of your sheet and moved aside when spent. A card is out only when every slot at or above its level is gone.

Turn the Concentration card sideways

When you cast a Concentration spell, turn its card 90 degrees. Only one card can be sideways at a time, because starting another Concentration spell ends the first one. When you take damage, the sideways card is the GM’s cue to ask for the Constitution save. If an ally is the target of something with ongoing rules, like Fly or Haste, hand them the card and leave a token turned sideways in its place, so the GM still sees you’re concentrating.

Flip the free casts

Some spells come with free casts that return after a Long Rest: a Paladin’s Divine Smite (and Find Steed from level 5) and a Warlock’s Mystic Arcanum. Flip those face down when used, and back up after the rest. A Ranger’s free Hunter’s Mark casts come in a batch (two at level 1, three at level 5, four at level 9): put that many tokens on the card.

Pull Rituals out at camp

Outside combat, slide your Ritual cards (R badge) to the front. Detect Magic, Identify and Comprehend Languages get forgotten because they never come up in a fight.

For the GM

A small stack of your villains’ spells saves looking up Hold Person while the party waits; the lazy prep method works the same way.

Your first print run before next session

If this is your first deck, work through it in this order:

1. Ask the group which spell version you play (2024 or 2014).
2. Count your cards with the class table above, adding subclass spells.
3. Print one test sheet at 100% and measure a card.
4. Print the rest on card stock, cut, and sleeve.
5. Sort into today’s spells, always prepared and reserve, and bring one token per spell slot.