Mage Hand [3.5]

[Callista]

I love this spell. Seriously; anytime you don't want to touch anything; anytime you need to reach something you can't get to. I think it's saved my butt more often than any other spell (with the possible exception of Invisibility).

However, I'm a little unclear on exactly how much you can do with the spell.


Transmutation
Level: Brd 0, Sor/Wiz 0
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: One nonmagical, unattended object weighing up to 5 lb.
Duration: Concentration
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

You point your finger at an object and can lift it and move it at will from a distance. As a move action, you can propel the object as far as 15 feet in any direction, though the spell ends if the distance between you and the object ever exceeds the spell’s range.

Can you, for example, target the doorknob on a door which takes less than five pounds of force to open (but weighs more than five pounds)? Can you target one end of a rope, but not the other? Can you use it to roll a metal sphere along the ground and check for traps? (You'd be moving it more than 15 feet, but walking along behind it and staying within range.) Can you move things precisely enough to, say, use a piece of chalk to write a message?

What have you done with Mage Hand?
As a DM, what would you allow?

[Sir Swindle89]

I'm pretty sure there was more to the description. Somthing about having as much control as a single hand.

Any way the one hand thing is how i've always done it and the 5lb thing is a 5lb force. Those are the rulings my group has always used.

[Callista]

Yeah, there is. Can I post it here, or am I limited to just posting stuff from the SRD?

[Ishcumbeebeeda]

I had a magic item (hand of the magi?) that gave me Mage Hand at will and I use it to slowly but safely get all the treasure at the bottom of a pool of water in a dungeon. No swim checks that I'd have failed, avoided the octohorrorthingy. The look on my DMs face was awesome. The best part was I got xp for "defeating" the monsters in the water. :smallbiggrin:

[senrath]

Yeah, there is. Can I post it here, or am I limited to just posting stuff from the SRD?

Generally you should avoid posting anything not in the SRD, because the fluff text isn't released under the OGL. I think.

[dsmiles]

We used it to convince a guard to unlock our cells once. It grabbed his...:smalleek:...which weighs significantly less than 5lbs, and then exerted a slight downard force, which equalled out to about 5 lbs. The guard was rather accomidating, as I recall. :smallamused:

[JustIgnoreMe]

We used it to convince a guard to unlock our cells once. It grabbed his...:smalleek:...which weighs significantly less than 5lbs, and then exerted a slight downard force, which equalled out to about 5 lbs. The guard was rather accomidating, as I recall. :smallamused:
He shouldn't have left it... unattended.

But seriously: do people count as objects for those purposes?

[WarKitty]

He shouldn't have left it... unattended.

But seriously: do people count as objects for those purposes?

I doubt it.

We did win a battle with mage hand once. The DM had placed two doors on either side of the hall. The orcs had opened one, which blasted us with electricity. We mage handed it shut and got out of the blast area before the orcs re-opened it, blocking our melee off from them. Then our sorc noticed they were standing near another door, and opened it...releasing a fire blast. Turns out the orcs were carrying explosives.

[Douglas]

But seriously: do people count as objects for those purposes?
No, they don't. Nor do any of their body parts. Any equipment on them is also ineligible because it counts as "attended".

[dsmiles]

He shouldn't have left it... unattended.

But seriously: do people count as objects for those purposes?

I don't think so, but it was in a "comedic" game, so the DM let it fly.

[Keld Denar]

I think there is a version of Mage Hand in BoEF made explicitly for that and similar functions...

[Ishcumbeebeeda]

It's called Grope. Basically Mage Hand and you can feel through it.