Yes and no. Walking will put them into the area of effect and they will take the damage at the beginning of their turn. 

Wiped out 3 Bugbears, 2 Ogres, and a Hill Giant with my party using this spell. Probably dealt twice the damage of anyone else. 10/10 would cast again.

those are the casting times you are seeing. bless lasts for a full minute. the others as well take concentration. its a way of keeping casters in check. also even if its instantaneous doesn't mean it wont use concentration. that would mean you have to give up on another spell.  resource management is the key there

They are indeed concentration.

hello i'd like to add spirit guardians onto my 3rd level grave domain cleric but it's literally unavailable on the character builder??? i have quite a few of the source books purchased and it's also in basic rules? am I missing something? it's a 3rd level spell right?

okay even if it's technically only usable for 3rd level spell slots and /not/ 3rd level class as a whole, it's not showing up when I level my cleric up regardless?

EDIT: I'm an idiot it works now<3

Quote from drakegaming_twitch >>

That can't be what the C in the black diamond means. I get that C on several of my Paladin spells that are instantaneous. Bless, Divine Favor, Protection from Good & Evil, Thunderous Smite, Shield of Faith...not one says anything about having to concentrate. They are either immediate or 10 min durations. So the C MUST mean something else. 

 All of these are concentration spells, as it says in the PHB/other sourcebooks. The C definitely does mean Concentration. Spells don't include that they require concentration in their description, that's always a part of their duration.

Quote from Conn_Eremon >>

Quote from deleeta87 >>

Does this spell affect creatures above the caster?

 

"They flit around you to a distance of 15 feet for the duration."

One would assume it means 15 feet in all directions.

 The type of AoE is sphere, so yes, it affects enemies in all directions.  The good thing about this spell is you can choose which creatures are affected, unlike other AoE spells.  That means you don't have to worry about hurting your allies.    

Quote from gabrielrockman >>

You can't move towards an enemy and make them take damage on your turn from Spirit Guardians.  But my interpretation is that if you have the Thorn Whip cantrip (which uses Wisdom so it's great for Clerics), and you attack somebody that is 20ft or 25ft away and pull them to 10ft or 15ft away, that they would take the damage from your Spirit Guardians on top of the damage from Thorn Whip.  It's pretty hard to make somebody take damage from Spirit Guardians on your turn, but that's the easiest way that I can see to make it happen.

 Being pulled, does not count as 'entering' the area of a spell, just as being moved doesn't attract attacks of opportunity.

I’m curious to know if you have a rule reference for that DwarfFather. I could see me having to make a ruling on this in the near future of my game.

Specifically the ‘entering a spell’ bit. I know that forced movement can’t trigger attacks of opportunity.

For the smite spells, it usually says “the next time you hit”.  The is the concentration portion. 

Could animals summoned with this spell be affected by speak with animals?? 

This spell is ridicolously overpowered.

Could animals summoned with this spell be affected by speak with animals?? 

As a DM I would argue as they have no stat card they have no stats, and therefore no intelligence which is a requirement for speech. Beasts, even CR 0 normal creatures like cats and crabs have at least Int 1. Also, while Fey may take the form of animals (Valenar Hawk, Blink Dog, etc.), they are not Beasts, they are Fey. The spell specifically says, "You gain the ability to comprehend and verbally communicate with beasts for the duration" [emphasis added]. And even then, I'm not sure they are even Fey as the spell above say, "If you are good or neutral, their spectral form appears angelic or fey (your choice). If you are evil, they appear fiendish." [emphasis added]. so in the end I don't think they are even a creature. More like a Magic Mouth than an actual spirit.

So no. I wouldn't allow it.

Edited to add: You can disregard the part about Int 0 preventing conversation. I was thinking 3.5 where Int 0 = Comatose. But that is not a 5th Ed rule. The rest however stands.

So why do paladins not get this normally??? It 100% seems like a thing that a paladin could use effectively.

Quote from Frassle >>

I’m curious to know if you have a rule reference for that DwarfFather. I could see me having to make a ruling on this in the near future of my game.

Specifically the ‘entering a spell’ bit. I know that forced movement can’t trigger attacks of opportunity.

Since nobody answered: The answer is wrong. Moving an enemy into an AoE (with thunderwave or thorn whip), triggers the effects ONCE per TURN. So you can trigger the effect on every turn by playing push and pull with eldritch blasts. However you can't pull a creature into the AoE, push it out and pull it back in to trigger the damage over and over again. You can for example pull it in with EB, push it back out with the second EB and your ally can shove the creature back in with thunderwave for example.
If you could activate the damage multiple times, it would indeed be broken with grapple and forced movement. 

You can find it in the Sage Advice Compendium:
Does  moonbeam deal damage when you cast it? What about when its effect moves onto a creature? 
The  answer to both questions is no. Here’s some elaboration on that  answer. Some spells and other game features create an area of effect that does something when a creature enters that area for the first time on a turn or when a creature starts its turn in that area. On the turn when you cast such a spell, you’re primarily setting up hurt for your foes on later turns. Moonbeam, for example, creates a beam of light that can damage a creature who enters the beam or who starts its turn  in  the  beam. Here are some spells with the same timing as  moonbeam for their areas of effect:

• blade  barrier
• cloudkill
• cloud of daggers
• Evard’s black tentacles
• forbiddance
• moonbeam
• sleet  storm
• spirit  guardians

Reading the description of any of those spells, you might wonder whether a creature is considered to be entering the spell’s area of effect if the area is created on the creature’s space. And if the area of effect can be moved—as the beam of  moonbeam can—does moving it into a creature’s space count as the creature entering the area? Our design intent for such spells is this: a creature enters the area of effect when the creature passes into it.
Creating the area of effect on the creature or moving it onto the creature doesn’t count. If the creature is still in the area at the start of its turn, it is subjected to the area’s effect. Entering such an area of effect needn’t be voluntary, unless a spell says otherwise. You can, therefore, hurl a creature into the area with a spell like  thunderwave.
We consider that clever play, not an imbalance, so hurl away! Keep in mind, however, that a creature is subjected to such an area of effect only the first time it enters the area on a turn. You can’t move a creature in and out of it to damage it over and over again on the same turn. In summary, a spell like  moonbeam  affects a creature when the creature passes into the spell’s area of effect and when the creature starts its turn there. You’re essentially creating a hazard on the battlefield.

Quote from TheHackNSlashPaladin >>

So why do paladins not get this normally??? It 100% seems like a thing that a paladin could use effectively.

The paladin has enough spells that compete for concentration already. Also that would mean a half caster would have a full caster capability and we can't have that. I'd like it way more if it was on the Paladin list. It's not like Clerics aren't already better Paladins. Then it would be only available at far higher levels and wouldn't shut down half the encounters after level 5. Get this and web and you can basically shut down any encounter that doesn't have access to fire, dispel magic or counter spell. Or just have a group of grapplers. 

My favorite use of this spell by far was: as a member of a parade, I cast this to make dozens of wildly colored butterflies appear around our group, but then just not designate anyone as a threat :D

Per the spells wording you designate people to be unaffected.  It is one of the major drawbacks of this spell. 

Can't see a party member because they are around a corner or invisible?  Better be careful where you move.  In the example above, you killed a bunch of innocent parade watchers.

"When you cast this spell, you can designate any number of creatures you can see to be unaffected by it."

The "when a creature enters the area for the first time" part of this spell gives allot of discussion in our group. We already agreed that the spell on cast does not deal damage on creatures in the area. But what if the cleric moves, or gets moved by its party members (vortex wrap) or push effects, resulting in creatures entering the spells area for the first time? I feel like it shouldn't, and should only deal damage on a creatures turn in the spell or when a creature gets forced into the spell on a turn. Am I wrong here? What are the actual correct triggers for this spell? Thanks :)!