Recall · Game Mechanic Compendium

Definition

Recall returns the user, sometimes with companions, over any distance to a destination the ability fixes: a home point bound in advance (a sanctuary, a bind point, an inn) or a hub set by the game (a castle, a base, a camp). Blink is range-bounded and excludes travel teleports; recall is that excluded class narrowed to a pre-fixed destination, and the free-destination travel teleport is its antecedent. Fast travel, under exploration procedures, skips travel between discovered points from a fixture such as a shrine; recall works anywhere in the field. Checkpoints record state for failure to return to; recall is an activated transport, though its home point often doubles as a respawn or save point.

Behaviour

Delivery is self. The user triggers the effect, often through a cast time or channel, and arrives without crossing the space between, so counterplay targets the delay. Blizzard’s 2004 page says the Hearthstone takes time “to prevent it from being used as an escape mechanism from combat”; League of Legends’ Recall channel is reportedly broken by damage.

Variations

Bound-home recall (Greyhawk; EverQuest; World of Warcraft; New World): the user sets one destination in advance at an approved place.
Fixed-hub recall (Wizardry; Dragon Quest; League of Legends; Monster Hunter Wilds): the game fixes the destination, a castle, the fountain, or the nearest camp. Dungeon exits (Dragon Quest’s OUTSIDE) are a relative.
Round-trip recall (Moria; Diablo): the scroll or portal also carries the user back, to the deepest level reached or the “point of origin”.
Group recall (Wizardry; Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition; EverQuest Evacuate): the effect carries a party or up to five willing creatures.
Destination-list teleport (World of Warcraft Mage Teleport and Portal): each destination is a separate spell trained for its location and paid with a reagent; Portal carries group members.

Gating

Tabletop recall stays a 6th-level spell slot from Greyhawk (1975) to the fifth edition; the 1978 Players Handbook adds a carry allowance of 250 gold pieces’ weight per level. Early computer RPGs keep spell costs and add penalties or items: Wizardry’s spell often fizzles; Dragon Quest and Diablo pair a spell with a single-use item. MMOs move the gate to time and place: EverQuest’s Gate costs 70 mana, but where one may bind is the stronger limit; World of Warcraft’s free Hearthstone worked once per hour in 2004; a guide to New World’s 2024 Aeternum relaunch gives fifteen minutes. League of Legends leaves only the channel, costing map time.

History and provenance

The earliest documented use is Word of Recall in Greyhawk (1975), a cleric spell to a sanctuary designated in advance that “acts similarly to a Teleportation spell, but there is no chance of failure”. Its antecedent, Teleport in Men & Magic (1974), reaches a known place “regardless of the distance involved” but can kill a caster unsure of the destination. Earlier tabletop play remains unsurveyed. Wizardry (1981) has the behaviour as LOKTOFEIT, Moria (about 1983) keeps the Dungeons & Dragons name for a delayed two-way scroll, and Dragon Quest (1986) pairs RETURN with Wings, all before Diablo’s Town Portal (1996). EverQuest and World of Warcraft tie the destination to a bind point or an inn; a New World: Aeternum guide compares the inn recall to the Hearthstone.

Notable examples

Notable examples, in chronological order. Notes describe how the ability behaves in each game; gating is what limits its use there; the latest reference is a widely played game from 2020 or later.
Game	Year	Medium	Gating	How the ability behaves
Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I: Greyhawk Gary Gygax and Robert Kuntz (TSR)	1975	Tabletop RPG	Spell slots	Word of Recall, a 6th-level cleric spell: the cleric first designates a sanctuary, which "may not be changed at will", and the spell "acts similarly to a Teleportation spell, but there is no chance of failure", over any distance, taking only the cleric and only to that sanctuary.
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord Andrew Greenberg and Robert Woodhead (Sir-Tech)	1981	Video	Spell slots	LOKTOFEIT ("RECALL"), a level-6 priest spell cast in combat, sends the whole party "back to the Castle, minus all their equipment and most of their gold", and "there is a very good chance this spell will fizzle", so it is an emergency escape paid for with the party's possessions.
Dragon Quest Chunsoft (Yuji Horii)	1986	Video	Mana, Consumable	In the 1989 North American Dragon Warrior, RETURN (level 13, 8 MP) gives "Transport back to Tantegel Castle from anywhere in the overworld"; Wings, sold as Wyvern's Wings at Kol, "transport you home to Tantegel Castle when thrown" and are used up. OUTSIDE (level 12, 6 MP) only leaves a dungeon.
Diablo Blizzard North	1996	Video	Mana, Consumable	Town Portal, a learned spell or a scroll, opens a gate that "will always take the caster to the location of the nearest gate and remain open long enough to bring the caster back to his point of origin", a round trip between the labyrinth and the town. Learned spells spend mana; scrolls "draw their own power" and are used up.
EverQuest Verant Interactive	1999	Video	Mana	Gate, open at level 4 or 5 to seven caster classes, costs 70 mana with a 5-second cast and a 10.25-second recast delay, a "Teleport to wherever you're bound". Higher-level casters bind themselves or others; the bind point is also the respawn point, and "some of the most dangerous places will not allow binding". Values from a 2001 guide.
World of Warcraft Blizzard Entertainment	2004	Video	Cooldown	The Hearthstone, in every starting inventory and free from any innkeeper, returns the player to the inn last checked in at. The cast "will take a reasonable amount of time, to prevent it from being used as an escape mechanism from combat", and Hearthstones "can only be used once per hour" (Blizzard's page of November 2004).
League of Legends Riot Games	2009	Video	At will	Recall, mapped to the B key, returns the champion to the team's base fountain to buy items and regenerate health and mana. It has no cost or cooldown but an 8-second channel in a 2015 description, reportedly interrupted by damage, so its price is time away from the lane.
New World Latest Amazon Games	2021	Video	Cooldown	Checking in at an inn makes it the single "home location, much like using Hearthstone in World of Warcraft", and the player can recall there "every fifteen minutes"; shrine fast travel, paid in Azoth, is a separate system. Values from a guide to the 2024 relaunch, New World: Aeternum; the 2021 launch cooldown is unconfirmed.

Provenance

Earliest documented use: Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I: Greyhawk (1975), tabletop rpg. Confidence: medium. Word of Recall in Greyhawk (p. 31), a new 6th-level cleric spell, is the earliest documented return over any distance to a sanctuary designated in advance, with "no chance of failure". It is explicitly modelled on Teleport in Men & Magic (1974, p. 28), an antecedent that reaches any place the user knows "regardless of the distance involved" but kills on a bad roll for an uncertain destination; players could already use it to go home. Earlier tabletop play, including Blackmoor and Chainmail-era campaigns, remains unsurveyed.

Sources

Gary Gygax and Robert Kuntz. (1975). Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I: Greyhawk. TSR. Rulebook p. 31, Word of Recall (cleric 6th level); cleric spell table p. 21. Accessed 2026-10-24. The designated sanctuary, the comparison with a Teleportation spell without its chance of failure, and the rule that the sanctuary may not be changed at will.
Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. (1974). Dungeons & Dragons, Volume 1, Men & Magic. Tactical Studies Rules. Rulebook p. 28, Teleport (5th-level Magic-User spell). Accessed 2026-10-24. The antecedent, travel to any known place regardless of distance, with death on a failed roll for an uncertain destination.
Gary Gygax. (1978). Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Players Handbook. TSR. Rulebook p. 52, Word of Recall (cleric 6th level). Accessed 2026-10-24. One-segment casting, still 6th level, and a carry allowance of 250 gold pieces' weight per caster level, which may include another person.
Wizards of the Coast. (2016). System Reference Document 5.1. Rulebook Spell Descriptions, Word of Recall, p. 193. Accessed 2026-10-24. A 6th-level, one-action spell taking the caster and up to five willing creatures within 5 feet to a sanctuary linked to the caster's deity.
Sir-Tech. (c. 1981). Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, Player's Guide. Rulebook Level 6 Priest Spells, LOKTOFEIT, c. p. 72. Accessed 2026-10-24. The party returned to the Castle without its equipment and most of its gold, with a high chance of fizzling.
Nintendo of America. (1989). Dragon Warrior instruction manual. Rulebook Items, Wings (p. 25); Magic Spells, Outside and Return (p. 27). Accessed 2026-10-24. The North American localisation of Dragon Quest; Wings and RETURN both bring the hero back to Tantegel Castle.
Nintendo of America. (1989). Dragon Warrior Explorer's Handbook. Book Items, Wyvern Wings (p. 13); spell list (OUTSIDE level 12, 6 MP; RETURN level 13, 8 MP). Accessed 2026-10-24. RETURN works from anywhere in the overworld; Wyvern's Wings are bought at Kol.
Blizzard Entertainment. (1996). Diablo manual. Rulebook Spells, Town Portal (p. 49); Mana (c. p. 27). Accessed 2026-10-24. The portal to the nearest gate that stays open to bring the caster back; scrolls draw their own power instead of mana.
Juanita Jones, Russell Phoenix, Jimmy Monkerface, and Damien Waples (Prima Games). (2001). EverQuest Players Guide. Book Appendix D: Spells, Gate; Death section, Binding; Glossary, Evacuate and Teleport. Accessed 2026-10-24. Gate's mana, cast time, recast delay and bind-point destination; which classes may bind and where; group Evacuate.
Blizzard Entertainment. (2004). Basics: Resting (Inns, Hearthstones). Website Accessed 2026-10-24. Inn check-in sets the home location; the cast time that prevents combat escape; once per hour; free from innkeepers. Wayback snapshot of 24 November 2004.
Blizzard Entertainment. (2006). Mage Spells (World of Warcraft). Website Portal; Teleport. Accessed 2026-10-24. Teleport and Portal spells trained for specific locations, each needing a reagent; Portal carries group members who use it.
Robert Alan Koeneke (Umoria maintainers). The Dungeons of Moria (manual). Website §8 Within The Dungeon (Word-of-Recall). Accessed 2026-10-24. The two-way scroll between the town and the deepest level reached, and its delay, which keeps it from saving a character in a crisis.
Robert Alan Koeneke (Umoria maintainers). Moria history. Website Accessed 2026-10-24. Dates Moria 1.0 to about 1983.
Game Informer Editorial. (2012). A Beginner's Guide To League Of Legends. Article Accessed 2026-10-24. Recall mapped to the B key; the fountain for buying items and regenerating.
Ben Barrett (PCGamesN). (2015). Latest League of Legends patch introduces instant recall bug. Article Accessed 2026-10-24. Recall returns champions to base after an 8-second period; a patch 5.13 bug made it instant.
League of Legends Wiki, Recall. Wiki Interruption of the channel by damage.
Sportskeeda (edited by Adarsh J Kumar). (c. 2024). New World Aeternum: How to Recall (Fast Travel). Article Accessed 2026-10-24. The inn as home location compared with the Hearthstone, the fifteen-minute recall, and shrine fast travel at 10 or 20 Azoth as a separate system.
Angshuman Dutta (Deltia's Gaming). (2025). Monster Hunter Wilds Farcaster: How To Get and Use. Article Accessed 2026-10-24. The crafted Farcaster, one carried, usable in combat, taking the hunter to the nearest camp, as distinct from fast travel.

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West, James, Jr. (2026). "Recall." Game Mechanic Compendium, updated 2026-10-24. http://localhost:4321/abilities/recall

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