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Llama231
2009-02-21, 02:34 PM
Does anyone now any cheesy ways that prestidigitation can do?

It seems open to so many possibilities.

Nohwl
2009-02-21, 02:39 PM
you could make all of the food you are eating taste like cheese. does that count?

Tempest Fennac
2009-02-21, 02:40 PM
I guess it could be used to fool someone who's tracking by scent or to change your outfit's colour while escaping from someone. (The last one could possibly be used on bystanders as well.)

MammonAzrael
2009-02-21, 02:43 PM
You could make all the food everyone around you eats taste like cheese. Really stinky cheese.

You can't really abuse Prestidigitation, IMO, since it requires the DM's participation to not only determine what it can do, but how people react to it (and if they know what it is). Too much DM interaction there to do something stupid.

MCerberus
2009-02-21, 02:45 PM
I suppose clever wording of what you're doing could net you some +2's, but the spell description is pretty clear about it not being useful for things more important than "needs more salt".

Trouvere
2009-02-21, 03:10 PM
Our party, exploring an old house swallowed up by a swamp, came across some interesting looking boots, but a shocker lizard was curled up inside, hissing threateningly, and it would certainly have zapped us if we'd disturbed it further.

The bard used prestidigitation to slowly chill the boots down a few degrees at a time, until the lizard became torpid and went to sleep. Then we gingerly carried the boot outside, dumped the lizard on the ground, and ran before it recovered.

Real heroes, we are. But I think that's a fair use of prestidigitation.

Mordo
2009-02-21, 06:56 PM
i once used prestidigitation to make a guard's retinas invisible... it was a fun little blinding spell till the rogue pushed him off the 50ft wall

Zeful
2009-02-21, 07:03 PM
i once used prestidigitation to make a guard's retinas invisible... it was a fun little blinding spell till the rogue pushed him off the 50ft wall

Can't do that.

LurkerInPlayground
2009-02-21, 07:21 PM
One of the more creative uses of prestidigitation that I've seen used is to use it to clean up blood.

Blood = evidence of violence.

The party was trying to be stealthy.

Broler
2009-02-21, 07:25 PM
a more useful spell is dancing lights. you can freak out dire animals with it:smallbiggrin:

poxjedi
2009-02-21, 09:16 PM
* Repair broken ammunition (50% chance of them breaking after being shot, you know... this is invaluable, you can use some old rotten bow that you started with at level 1 and invest in a few +5 shocking flaming frost keen arrow/bolt of Distance)
* Leave footprints headed in a different direction to deceive pursuers.
* Set fire to something ( :D not technically in the description, but you can heat it up more and more and more until it combusts, would only work on inanimate objects of course)
* Levitate a small mirror around a corner to see what is just around the bend...
* Any number of easy ways to amp up your disguise or hide checks- change your armor's color to blend in with the environment, give yourself a new haircut, gain or remove tattoos, change skin color, even make the soles of your feet softer for move silently checks.

Yahzi
2009-02-21, 09:43 PM
Polish teeth.

Come on, that's got to be worth a gold piece in a world where dental floss hasn't been invented yet.

:smallbiggrin:

xPANCAKEx
2009-02-21, 09:44 PM
Can't do that.

RAW no

but rule of cool might let it slide on a one-time-only basis

Aquillion
2009-02-22, 12:46 AM
Does anyone now any cheesy ways that prestidigitation can do?

It seems open to so many possibilities.The problem with prestidigitation is that, per RAW, it actually got less powerful with every spell that's published (because it can't mimic the effect of any other spell.)

Basically, what you can do with it comes down to your imagination... and what your DM allows. Since we can't really say what your DM will allow, it's hard to really be "cheesy" with prestidigitation, and particularly hard to give much useful advice about using it on a message board.

Lord Zentei
2009-02-22, 12:50 AM
The worst thing you can do is to pick the right moment to massively embarrass some important person during a sensitive point in time.

Middle of sensitive diplomatic negotiations with a powerful enemy? Make some diplomatic faux pas possible to give him an excuse to storm off. Or something.

Actually, it's mainly intended as a utility spell, with no "game winning" potential.

Zeful
2009-02-22, 01:26 AM
RAW no

but rule of cool might let it slide on a one-time-only basis

Right; no-save, no SR, 1 hour blindness, that's a 0-level spell.[/sarcasm]

The DM messed up. Prestidigitation is the weakest power a arcane caster will ever get. Rule of cool is at best a cop out.

monty
2009-02-22, 01:32 AM
i once used prestidigitation to make a guard's retinas invisible... it was a fun little blinding spell till the rogue pushed him off the 50ft wall

Pretty sure you don't have line of effect to the inside of someone's eyeball.

vrellum
2009-02-22, 01:34 AM
Prestidigitation is cool, I usually get it for my casters for it's roleplaying potential. We've always played that it has no effect on anybody that doesn't want to be affected. Even if they want to be affected it's limited to things like cleaning up (equivalent to a quick wash), adding a little flavor to food or some "cheap" tricks that might useful if the character has the appropriate perform skill (might make a story a bit more interesting, etc).

chiasaur11
2009-02-22, 01:48 AM
you could make all of the food you are eating taste like cheese. does that count?

No. You make everything taste like Bacon.

It's the perfect plan. I mean, seriously, what could be better?

Innis Cabal
2009-02-22, 01:50 AM
No. You make everything taste like Bacon.

It's the perfect plan.

Behold the power of Pork.

Keld Denar
2009-02-22, 02:19 AM
Now, you can add flavor...could you add flavor to yourself? Like, REALLY bad flavor? Like dog leavings combined with baby spit-up boiled in a pot with 4 month old eggs then left to grow things in a dark corner for a week?

Could be useful if you were ever swallowed whole and all you knew were 0th level spells.

Innis Cabal
2009-02-22, 02:21 AM
No, because your not 1 pound of nonliving matter

RTGoodman
2009-02-22, 02:27 AM
No, because your not 1 pound of nonliving matter

But if you've been swallowed whole, you might soon be. :smallwink:

Myatar_Panwar
2009-02-22, 02:32 AM
Right; no-save, no SR, 1 hour blindness, that's a 0-level spell.[/sarcasm]

The DM messed up. Prestidigitation is the weakest power a arcane caster will ever get. Rule of cool is at best a cop out.

In a game built around having fun, you would think that people would be able to accept little things like this. But no. It "HAS TO BE BY RAW"

I would have let it go if you didn't say the DM messed up, when all he did was create a memorable occasion for his players. But oh man, he had to kill off a guard to do it. WHAT WILL WE DO WITHOUT ONE MORE SOCIAL/COMBAT ENCOUNTER AHHH

Enlong
2009-02-22, 02:36 AM
No, because your not 1 pound of nonliving matter

But what about your shirt?

Or your hair and fingernails?

And with the rate that skin cells die and regrow...

Innis Cabal
2009-02-22, 02:36 AM
But if you've been swallowed whole, you might soon be. :smallwink:

Well, then lets hope you have Still and Silent Spell :smallwink:

And the above repair for the crossbow bolt could not work by RAW either, as anything made is to fragile be used as a weapon.


It may have alot of open room but what it -can't- do is very clearly spelled out in the first paragraph. Its a 0 level spell, everything lasts a single hour, anything made is way to fragile to ever use as a weapon, etc.


Edit: No...your skin cells are still part of you. As for your shirt...that may work, but the spell dosn't give a bonus or anything. So it will just taste awful while they eat you. You've just given em a bad taste in their mouth. One they will most likely use your friends and allies to clean their pallet with. The real question is. What tastes bad to them? How will you know to make you taste like it? Dragons can eat anything, so this application won't stop them. Wolves -can- eat carrion, feces and other things we think would taste bad. Monsters probably have a wider range of things they could eat.

Not only that but you couldn't make yourself taste like something you've never tasted. So again, the problem really comes down to...how are you going to make yourself taste bad enough not to eat when the target probably eats things that would kill you, or would simply be unable to be eaten.

Draz74
2009-02-22, 02:54 AM
Polish teeth.

Come on, that's got to be worth a gold piece in a world where dental floss hasn't been invented yet.

:smallbiggrin:

Amen.

You know what else hasn't been invented yet? Modern sewage systems, indoor plumbing, and toilet paper. This should make Prestidigitation an extremely valued commodity to a very large subset of the populace.

A Rod of Infinite Prestidigitation is, IMHO, severely undervalued at 1800 gp.

Raging Gene Ray
2009-02-22, 02:57 AM
You know what else hasn't been invented yet? Modern sewage systems, indoor plumbing, and toilet paper. This should make Prestidigitation an extremely valued commodity to a very large subset of the populace.

My thoughts exactly. I always mentally explained away the whole "Adventurers never use the bathroom thing" by imagining that prestidigitation can teleport waste from the bladder/bowels to the elemental plane of raw sewage.

Ascension
2009-02-22, 03:06 AM
Prestidigitation can make the bland food and drink produced by Create Food and Water taste like the BEST MEAL EVER. So all you need is a level zero arcane spell and a level three cleric spell to make a gourmet meal for three out of thin air. There is not only no reason for the D&D world to have any food shortages, there is no reason for anyone in the D&D world to ever have to eat anything that doesn't taste like their favorite dish. It should by all rights be paradise... at least when monsters aren't trying to kill you and BBEGs aren't trying to destroy the universe.

MCerberus
2009-02-22, 03:10 AM
My wizard has recently been assigned to deck scrubbing on the expedition's ship, so he's using it to lazy his way out of work. Sure 1 foot^2 isn't much, but it's per round.

Zeful
2009-02-22, 03:41 AM
In a game built around having fun, you would think that people would be able to accept little things like this. But no. It "HAS TO BE BY RAW"The first spell capable of blinding someone is Glitterdust, which lasts rounds and has a will save. That use of prestidigitation lasts for one hour and has no save. It is almost better in every single way.


I would have let it go if you didn't say the DM messed up, when all he did was create a memorable occasion for his players. But oh man, he had to kill off a guard to do it. WHAT WILL WE DO WITHOUT ONE MORE SOCIAL/COMBAT ENCOUNTER AHHH

If you can accept a 0-level spell being in nearly all ways better at a unsupported function (come on, retina? I doubt the wizard would actually know what a retina is) than a 1st level spell's supported function, than hurray for you. I find the concept to be a failure on the DM's part for not saying "The spell can't do that/Your character doesn't know what a retina is."

Seatbelt
2009-02-22, 03:45 AM
Fall in to mud? Clean your clothes. I had a gnome wizard who got eaten by every monster capable of eating or absorbing something (and consequently whenever a character I'm running fights a monster that eats you, like a Behir or an Ooze, he gets eaten. Doesn't matter what it is) we ever fought. He'd get cut out and prestidigitate himself clean. All my cantrips were that spell.

Aron Times
2009-02-22, 03:52 AM
I can't wait to buy Hedge Wizard Gloves for my warlord/wizard. It's grants Prestidigitation and Mage Hand at-will. Pretty cheap, useless in combat, but it lets me do just about everything these two spells could do in previous editions.

Optimystik
2009-02-22, 03:54 AM
Basically, what you can do with it comes down to your imagination... and what your DM allows. Since we can't really say what your DM will allow, it's hard to really be "cheesy" with prestidigitation, and particularly hard to give much useful advice about using it on a message board.

I respectfully disagree, this thread (particularly poxjedi's post) gave me quite a few reasonable uses that I might not have thought of.


Now, you can add flavor...could you add flavor to yourself? Like, REALLY bad flavor? Like dog leavings combined with baby spit-up boiled in a pot with 4 month old eggs then left to grow things in a dark corner for a week?

Could be useful if you were ever swallowed whole and all you knew were 0th level spells.

Once you've been swallowed - as in, you're in something's stomach - your flavor probably no longer matters. And if you're on its tongue between the jaws that probably counts as being grappled.

Arceliar
2009-02-22, 04:00 AM
Make poison taste like candy.

In all seriousness, I always thought the flavoring things had the most potential for... breaking things? (In terms of the power of a level 0 spell, anyway).

AslanCross
2009-02-22, 04:26 AM
Prestidigitation is probably the best dating spell, but I doubt you can come up with anything mechanically frustrating to a DM.

poxjedi
2009-02-22, 04:38 AM
And the above repair for the crossbow bolt could not work by RAW either, as anything made is to fragile be used as a weapon.

It may have alot of open room but what it -can't- do is very clearly spelled out in the first paragraph. Its a 0 level spell, everything lasts a single hour, anything made is way to fragile to ever use as a weapon, etc.


You aren't using them as weapons, you're using them as ammunition. That's a stupid little loophole though...

Much more importantly, you aren't actually making a crossbow bolt/ammunition, you are repairing it. Something that has been repaired by Presto should be tougher than something completely made by Presto. I might be able to see a DM aguing that the ammo breaks after the one hour is up, though...

Fishman
2009-02-22, 05:02 AM
Make poison taste like candy.
Wholly unnecessary: Firstly, many poisons are already tasteless. Secondly, people of the time had an extremely poor understanding of toxicology to begin with, and frequently consumed poisonous substances *AS* candy. To this day, people are regularly poisoned to death by arsenic because it is tasteless or sweet depending on form. And finally, the taste of poison is simply not covered anywhere in the rules.


* Repair broken ammunition (50% chance of them breaking after being shot, you know... this is invaluable, you can use some old rotten bow that you started with at level 1 and invest in a few +5 shocking flaming frost keen arrow/bolt of Distance)Objects repaired by prestidigitation are "too fragile to be used as weapons", but this assumes conventional usage as a weapon for stabbing, slashing, hacking, bludgeoning, etc. It is entirely possible to weaponize objects in such a way that fragility is either irrelevant or even an asset. Unfortunately, crossbow bolts cannot really be considered one of these applications, as a fragile crossbow bolt would shatter on impact, and thus be totally ineffective against any target with armor, deflection, or natural AC. Frangible bolts would be potentially unpleasant, if not for the fact that damage-by-HP is too abstract and imprecise to really account for this, and that your fragments may not even be able to penetrate. It is also distinctly possible that the shock of launching such a repaired bolt in the first place would be sufficient to cause it to lose structural integrity, breaking apart into fragments that fail to damage your opponent and may jam the mechanism of your weapon. In conclusion, while it could be potentially possible to repair objects so that they CAN function as weapons, crossbow bolts and arrows cannot really be considered to be amongst these possibilities.

Therefore, repairing a bolt or arrow by prestidigitation would result in a bolt or arrow that is probably incapable of surviving launch and has the approximate penetrating power of an overripe tomato. You might manage to make use of this to annoy someone, though. There are, however, no mechanical rules for adjucating how such a bolt might potentially annoy someone you shoot with it.

Aquillion
2009-02-22, 06:27 AM
As I pointed out, and as prestidigitation itself says, it cannot duplicate any other spell effects.

Are there other spells that blind people? Then prestidigitation can't blind people. Are there other spells that can preform useful repairs? Then prestidigitation can't preform useful repairs. (In particular, it can never rival mending, another cantrip.) It cannot do anything you can do with Silent Image or anything else in the illusion line. Etc.

Narmoth
2009-02-22, 07:21 AM
If you can accept a 0-level spell being in nearly all ways better at a unsupported function (come on, retina? I doubt the wizard would actually know what a retina is) than a 1st level spell's supported function, than hurray for you. I find the concept to be a failure on the DM's part for not saying "The spell can't do that/Your character doesn't know what a retina is."

Well, first of all, it works on 1 object, doesn't it?[captain obvious] Well, [/captain obvious]guess what, most people have 2 eyes.
Now, you blind the person how? You can't create light to blind the person. You could soil the retinal cells, but then you would actually damage them, which the spell states you can't.
Color them? Maybe, but that would confuse the guard, not blind him

Fizban
2009-02-22, 08:23 AM
Prestidigitation does this (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20010707).

Also: magical ammunition expends it's magic when fired, so no, you can't fix it. And to fix non-magical ammo, you'd need at the very least mending, a whole other spell, which prestidigitation expressly cannot copy.

Gloves of continuous prestidigitation by itself would be 1,000gp, or 900gp with command word at will. See Hand of the Mage (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#handoftheMage).

And finally: why do people insist on ignoring common sense, even if they can't read the text of the spell? No, you cannot cast light on your opponents eyes to blind them. Even if you could target their eyes, which you can't, that would make it more powerful than a spell 2 levels higher. No, you cannot make someone's retina's invisible with prestidigitation to blind them: 1, you don't know what a retina is; 2, you can't touch it to affect it; 3, prestidigitation cannot make things invisible, and; 4, that would make it more powerful than a spell 2 levels higher. If you need to break the rules to have fun, we have a problem.

Aquillion
2009-02-22, 08:54 AM
And finally: why do people insist on ignoring common sense, even if they can't read the text of the spell? No, you cannot cast light on your opponents eyes to blind them. Even if you could target their eyes, which you can't, that would make it more powerful than a spell 2 levels higher.You could do this in 2e / AD&D (when, admittedly, Light was a 1st level spell on account of there being no cantrips.) That might be why people keep bringing it up.

Trouvere
2009-02-22, 09:10 AM
Prestidigitation does this (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20010707).The Change, Firefinger, Gather, Sketch and Tie functions alone make this the best spell ever. :smallsmile:

Demons_eye
2009-02-22, 09:39 AM
And finally: why do people insist on ignoring common sense, even if they can't read the text of the spell? No, you cannot cast light on your opponents eyes to blind them. Even if you could target their eyes, which you can't, that would make it more powerful than a spell 2 levels higher.

To have fun? The only reson people ban things is that it makes things unfair and unfun. If it was just the one time cuz they didnt know what to do or what ever. If he dose not abuse it why not let it ride? The player would have fun and the dm would be doing his job.

Ovaltine Patrol
2009-02-22, 11:29 AM
Cheat at cooking competitions for fun and profit ("I see everyone else went with the poo-flavored pie this year, what a shame.").

Zeful
2009-02-22, 01:40 PM
To have fun? The only reson people ban things is that it makes things unfair and unfun. If it was just the one time cuz they didnt know what to do or what ever. If he dose not abuse it why not let it ride? The player would have fun and the dm would be doing his job.

No. Not all DM ban things to be "unfair and unfun". When I play I ban all material I'm unfamiliar with because I'm not familiar with the material.

And why should the players not knowing make it a good idea? If the players don't know better, you have more reason to tell them it doesn't work. Because they don't know better, they'll expect to be able to do it again and again. And being an inconsistent DM is worse than being an "unfair" DM.

Myatar_Panwar
2009-02-22, 01:55 PM
You are completely missing the point.

Its a DM's job to make sure that everyone is having a good time. Being a rules lawyer should always be second to this.

Even if he knew that it didn't work, should he really be so anal as to not let this slide ONE time? I mean Jesus, his players are laughing an having a good time, I would say that he would have only messed up if he said "no you can't do this because it doesn't work this way"

Lines can be crossed by players when bending the rules, and the DM must intervene when they are. This was not one of those occasions as far as I'm concerned.

poxjedi
2009-02-22, 01:59 PM
I concede that it really shouldn't be possible to repair broken ammunition in the way I described... still worth a try though. Using Sling Bullets instead of arrows and bolts, on the other hand...

A few more uses:
- Choose an enemy who is really good at hiding and paint them Caution Yellow.
- Change the flavor of a monster's tongue to something they don't like... for a carnivore like a dire lion you could make it taste like a fresh garden salad, for an herbivore like a triceratops, make it taste like a T-bone steak fresh off the grill... either they'll be distracted by that horrible flavor or they'll start french kissing each other.
- Change the flavor of someone's potion as a prank or even a legitimate tactic. If the DM is running a game where all potions taste different depending on their effect (as I like to) you could make someone's potion of Invisibility taste like Enlarge Person or even Inflict X Wounds. You wouldn't want to use it on someone in your group, but use it on a known enemy while he isn't looking...
I've also heard of DMs who have their players drink lemon juice every time their character drinks a potion... change the potion's flavor to your favorite soft drink to show him up.

Lamech
2009-02-22, 02:40 PM
Planting someone else's fingerprint anyone? I'm sure they don't have highly advanced methods of fingerprint detection, but if its sitting in plain view and its bloody? Of course, you'll have to know the victims fingerprint, somehow...


Cleaning, stab, stab, stab. Walk away perfectly clean. Also useful after adventuring when collecting your reward. Changing taste has already been mentioned.

keilyn
2009-02-22, 02:40 PM
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the finger of fire - now, it says that you can't do damage with the spell, but if everyone is arguing about common sense, if you've got a 6 inch flame shooting from the end of your finger, and a victim unable to move, are you telling me that it would be impossible to burn them with it? Over an hour? It's brutal, yes - torture usually is, but effective. But let's look a the other side of the argument as well.

Maybe it would be better if you didn't do damage with it though. You're still burning them, It would undoubtedly hurt unbeleivably, and does -no- damage. Holy cow, that's even worse, because there's no limit to how much pain you could put someone through.

How else could you work this? Let's see - warmage edge, if your DM determines that it does at least 1 hp of damage. Now it does even more. Only in the first round, granted, but it could be used to light a bonfire, or something else large and flammable.
(I know, warmages don't get it as a spell, but it can be done if you -really- want to.)

Edit : oh, I forgot - this spell is extremely useful in Modern settings as well - had a player once who was a forensics investigator/ serial killer. The other players didn't know it and were trying to catch her. Prestidigitation was her -best- friend for cleaning up everything. Interesting campaign.