If you could cast 3 cantrips at will

[gooddragon1]

Which 3 level 0 spells would they be and why (don't have to be from the same list and treat them as SLAs)?

EDIT: IRL, in real life.

EDIT: This just in... 0 level psionic powers. CL and ML is 1 btw.

[Tulya]

Cure Minor Wounds, Create Water, and Prestidigitation.

Cure Minor Wounds and Create Water both generate lasting resources on an arbitrarily large scale at-will, and there are any number of essays on the utility of Prestidigitation on this forum.

[eggynack]

Probably cure minor and prestidigitation no matter what, and the third one would depend on whether you mean in or out of game. Mage hand would be pretty cool out of game, while maybe detect magic would be best in game.

[Know(Nothing)]

Prestidigitation is the perennial favorite, being incredibly versatile. There is a Dragon Magazine that expands its uses even further, but I forget which one.

No Light from BoVD coupled with a race that has Darkvision will make you untouchable to 90% of your enemies for the first 6 or 7 level easily.

Create Water has always ended up having a creative uses that come up.

[BWR]

In a game or IRL?

Cure Minor wounds. I would probably not get much use for it on a daily basis, but in the event I needed to perform first aid - auto-stabilizing would very, very nice. Out of combat, even if it takes a while, people are fully healed.

Mage Hand. At will TK - too damn useful even if the weight limit is low.

A toss-up between Create Water and Prestidigitation. IMC I split P into several different spells that were individually more powerful but more limited. Mostly because at the time I ran with Pathfinder's 'cantrips at will' and got utterly sick of one player who used it ALL THE TIME. For everything and anything that it could possibly be used for, even if there was no need at all.

[limejuicepowder]

Mage Hand would make me too lazy, so I'm not going to take that.

Launch Item would be incredibly fun - I could be my own paintball gun.

Silent Portal would be nice when trying to leave the room through the squeaky door after putting my daughter to sleep, though that's pretty niche.

Cure Minor Wounds is nice....

I'd take Prestidigitation, Cure Minor Wounds, and Launch Item.

[Fax Celestis]

Prestidigitation, message, and amanuensis.

[Telonius]

IRL? Prestidigitation, Mending, and Mage Hand. Prestidigitation plus Mending equals instant jewelry repair business. Buy up old, broken items on the cheap (or use Presto to soil them to bring the price down), and fix them up like new in 12 seconds. Works for tailoring and dry cleaning as well.

And then Mage Hand, just to mess with people. :smallbiggrin:

[gooddragon1]

IRL? Prestidigitation, Mending, and Mage Hand. Prestidigitation plus Mending equals instant jewelry repair business. Buy up old, broken items on the cheap (or use Presto to soil them to bring the price down), and fix them up like new in 12 seconds. Works for tailoring and dry cleaning as well.

And then Mage Hand, just to mess with people. :smallbiggrin:

Forgot to add IRL.

[Coidzor]

Prestidigitation and Cure Minor Wounds seem to be the most obvious pair to start with.

The third though... That's a bit trickier. Create Water and Mending both seem worth consideration.

[Weezer]

I'd say prestidigitation, Cure Minor Wounds and Mending. Prestidigitation has nigh infinite uses, cure minor will stop me from ever suffering a paper cut again and Mending for fixing so many things. Create water is close, but I almost always have access to running water , so iit'd be a bit useless most of the time.

[Rubik]

I'd have to go for Cure Minor Wounds, Prestidigitation, and Mending. All three could end up making me a LOT of money. The jewelry-mending idea would be really handy, CMW could end up saving lives like nobody's business, especially if I offered my services at hospitals for the quick recovery of critically-injured patients, and Prestidigitation can do so any things if you're clever, too, such as aiding in an artwork restoration business or even cleaning up smoke and water damage in buildings.

So many uses...

[Kane0]

1) Prestidigitation
2) Cure Minor Wounds
3) ... I can't decide. Mage hand is somewhat covered by #1, message, mending and create water are all good. Then you got all the other ones that are great at specific things. I'd probably go with mending.

[Twilightwyrm]

So, it should be noted that having at will access to just one Cantrip of choice IRL would be a potential source of greater value, and potentially wealth and power depending on how they are utilized, let alone with three.
For my part, Cure Minor Wounds, Electric Jolt, and Create Water. Amanuensis would be nice, but I'm not exactly sure how well it would work in an age of increasingly digitalized information. I would love to have Prestidigitation, but the other three narrowly beat it out.

[Vizzerdrix]

Prestidigitation for housework.
Amanuensis for free books.
Hmm... Any cantrips that I can use for free heating oil?

[Phelix-Mu]

Create Water. Sorry, it's just too cool. I need to know how I'm calculating my CL to know this (since IRL CLs stand to be not great). Regardless, even endless spamming at low CL will result in fun (not to mention money).

Prestidigitation really is total, unending win for versatility, and easily is worth a couple other cantrips right there.

The third one is the tricky one. I'm leaning toward mending, since it is also nicely open-ended. But, do to the fun of irl physics being a thing, I'd also have to give some thought to the ones that create energy damage, since there might be irl uses that aren't quite so novel in game (where the rest of magic makes them totally superfluous).

[Jeff the Green]

I think it might depend on CL and whether anyone else has them. As previously mentioned, cure minor wounds and prestidigitation are shoo-ins.

At CL 1 you can produce 1/3 gallon of water per second, or about 4500 liters/hour. While this would be a godsend if you're planning on being stranded in the desert or live in an area with little access to potable water (hello Bangladesh!), it's not super useful beyond that. If you spent a full 8 hours a day producing water you could grow enough grain and vegetables to feed yourself and five or so people even in the hottest, driest climates. If a lot of people have this power it would be enormously useful in reducing water conflicts and environmental degradation. As an individual, though, probably not quite so much.

You could also use it to produce energy, but even if you were creating the water at the top of the Burj Khalifa you'd only produce enough for yourself and one other person (assuming you're using as much as the average American). Buying this electricity, on the other hand, would cost about $4, so definitely not worth it.

At CL 20 you could produce enough water to provide food for yourself and 120 other people, or enough electricity for yourself and 40 other people, or about $80-worth per day. Both of those are significantly more useful.

[mucat]

I'd have to go for Cure Minor Wounds, Prestidigitation, and Mending. All three could end up making me a LOT of money.

If you don't mind publicity, any cantrip with observable effects could gain you all the money and fame you want. You are the person who first demonstrated paranormal powers to the world; bigshots don't come much bigger than that. You could start by claiming James Randi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Randi)'s million-dollar prize, and then hit the lecture tour and the book circuit, grab multiple Nobel prizes, and generally choose your own projects from zillions of people who want to figure out how the hell it all works.

(You would also be in serious danger from people, corporations, or governments that want to extract your secrets by any means necessary...)

[Donox]

There is a gnome illusionist substitution level in Races of Stone that gives silent image as a cantrip.

I'd probably that, ghost sound, and mage hand.

That said, the value of the 1d3 damage cantrips shouldn't be underestimated. Assuming we have 2 hitpoints each they could take out a full grown man in 12 seconds....I mean they'd only be useful if hurting people was your shtick....

Also if 3.0 is a source then easy math (http://dndtools.eu/spells/song-and-silence-a-guidebook-to-bards-and-rogues--48/easy-math--3324/) seems glorious depending on your interpretation.

[jaydubs]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned guidance. +1 to any skill check can do a lot if you basically gather enough experts in one place and assembly-line buff them. Considering that most people are probably quite low level, that might be a 10-20 percent buff to the most exceptional people in the world. Cure cancer in 10 years.

Besides that, cure minor wounds and prestidigitation for already discussed reasons.

[commander panda]

aaaaarh! this is a hard one.
probably cure minor wounds because duh (although irl i could see it causing tumours, in which case i'd take mending), prestidigitation is great for everything (and could potentialy destroy the world, in unlimited quantities), and electric jolt is A) excellent self defence (potentaly lethal self defence, assuming you cant limit the charge), and B) makes you the terror of electronics anywhere (you can power most electronics, including really powerfull ones.) you could do everything from jumpstarting a car too shorting radios too overloading a houses breaker.

i could also take create water, since in a survival scenario, water is your #1 necessity.

[Rubik]

Are 3rd party, homebrew, and psionic talents acceptable? There's at least one cantrip in Encyclopedia Arcane: Nymphology and one or two talents from Lycanthromancer's psionic powers revision I might like to have...

[Psyren]

Prestidigitation, message, and amanuensis.

Ding ding ding

[gooddragon1]

Are 3rd party, homebrew, and psionic talents acceptable? There's at least one cantrip in Encyclopedia Arcane: Nymphology and one or two talents from Lycanthromancer's psionic powers revision I might like to have...

Not sure about homebrew (certainly nothing from d&d wiki) but I have a special place in my heart for psionics (no augmentation allowed though).

[Coidzor]

Why is amanuesis so popular? I'm not really seeing it.


Are 3rd party, homebrew, and psionic talents acceptable? There's at least one cantrip in Encyclopedia Arcane: Nymphology and one or two talents from Lycanthromancer's psionic powers revision I might like to have...

Tell me more.

[nobodez]

purify food and drink, amanuensis, and magic ID.

The first from either v.3.5 or Pathfinder, the second from v.3.5's Spell Compendium, and the third from d20 Modern's Urban Arcana.

[Rubik]

Why is amanuesis so popular? I'm not really seeing it.Stealing books from the bookstore, maybe? I can't see it either.


Tell me more.Nymphology has the Morning Wood spell which preserves an erection for 4 hours + 1 hour/lvl.

Lycanthromancer's powers revision has a lot of talents, which you manifest for free by expending your psionic focus or paying 1 power point (and can augment them if you spend the pp). It has a number of really interesting and useful powers, from Astral Companion which creates a Tiny creature shaped from ectoplasm and summons the spirit of an extraplanar creature to inhabit it for an hour, to Dimensional Pocket, which increases the inner dimensions of an enclosed space (like in Harry Potter, where the dimensions are bigger on the inside), to Instant Arousal, which makes you and one creature you touch very aroused, to Nostrum, which reduces the severity of a number of status effects for 5 rounds, to Orgasm, which puts you in a continual 8 hour orgasm (which counts as resting), to Power Extraction, which allows you to spend a round concentrating to pull 1 power point out of the ether for 1 round, to Stimulatory Touch, which gives a major boost to Perform [Sex] checks for 1 hour, to Temporal Insight, which turns one creature touched into a living clock, both absolute and relative, to Trigonometrics, which allows you to determine distance and volume of anything you can see flawlessly for 1 hour, to Weather Sense, which allows you to accurately predict weather patterns over the next week.

There are plenty more, but those would be particularly useful (or "fun") in the modern world, I think.

[Forrestfire]

I'd probably go with Cure Minor Wounds, Prestidigitation, and some third spell, maybe Mage Hand or Light.

[Coidzor]

Stealing books from the bookstore, maybe? I can't see it either.

Nymphology has the Morning Wood spell which preserves an erection for 4 hours + 1 hour/lvl.

Lycanthromancer's powers revision has a lot of talents, which you manifest for free by expending your psionic focus or paying 1 power point (and can augment them if you spend the pp). It has a number of really interesting and useful powers, from Astral Companion which creates a Tiny creature shaped from ectoplasm and summons the spirit of an extraplanar creature to inhabit it for an hour, to Dimensional Pocket, which increases the inner dimensions of an enclosed space (like in Harry Potter, where the dimensions are bigger on the inside), to Instant Arousal, which makes you and one creature you touch very aroused, to Nostrum, which reduces the severity of a number of status effects for 5 rounds, to Orgasm, which puts you in a continual 8 hour orgasm (which counts as resting), to Power Extraction, which allows you to spend a round concentrating to pull 1 power point out of the ether for 1 round, to Stimulatory Touch, which gives a major boost to Perform [Sex] checks for 1 hour, to Temporal Insight, which turns one creature touched into a living clock, both absolute and relative, to Trigonometrics, which allows you to determine distance and volume of anything you can see flawlessly for 1 hour, to Weather Sense, which allows you to accurately predict weather patterns over the next week.

There are plenty more, but those would be particularly useful (or "fun") in the modern world, I think.

I suppose, but you still need access to the book for a fair while and paper for it to copy with. Eschew Materials might(?) do away with that particular issue, but that's not on the table here.

Hmm, this power revision strikes me as nifty. I should look into this. :3

[Hand_of_Vecna]

Prestidigitation for housework.
Amanuensis for free books.
Hmm... Any cantrips that I can use for free heating oil?

You could use Prestidigitation to warm a few stones.

[Psyren]

For myself, I actually messed up amanuensis (I was thinking of scholar's touch.)

That said, if you can touch a mobile device or click on a program's icon and copy its source code that could be quite useful too.

[Kraklen88]

Prestidigitation, Create Water, and Ghost Sound. I could be convinced of changing out Ghost Sound for Cure Minor Wounds but it would be so much fun.

Mage Hand and Mending would also be tempting.

[Blackhawk748]

Prestidigitation (great for the infinite lighter alone) Cure minor wounds (never be injured again) and mending (never need to buy new clothes)

[Irk]

Amanuensis would make you the fastest coder in the world and notes would be really easy to take

EDIT: like Psyren, I was initially thinking of Scholar's touch.

[Susano-wo]

Cure minor/stabilize is a shoe-in, due to the ability to save anyone not already dead from meat damage, as well as prestidigitation for sheer versatility.
Then the third is hard. 1d3 damage is a ton, given what that damage represent for an average joe, so that would be quite a lot, even against a 'tough' person, since in reality, you don't gain a lot of basic toughness where, say, electricity is concerned, not matter how badassed you are.
Ama..amenin..ama-the thing that lets you copy books:smalltongue: would be useful, as well as mending or mage hand for the heftier TK. YOu could do a lot of good with create water, as well. Probably go with create water. Anything else would be selfish :smallbiggrin:

[Maginomicon]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned guidance. +1 to any skill check can do a lot if you basically gather enough experts in one place and assembly-line buff them. Considering that most people are probably quite low level, that might be a 10-20 percent buff to the most exceptional people in the world. Cure cancer in 10 years.I'll do you one better than that. The Deftness cantrip (Dragon Magazine #302 page 49; the arcane counterpart to Guidance) grants a +2 to a single skill check.

[Malroth]

Silent Image, Prestigitation, and Launch Bolt

[Rubik]

Silent Image, Prestigitation, and Launch BoltPsst. Silent Image is a 1st level spell, unless you're a shadowcraft mage...

[Irk]

Some others to consider:

-Detect Disease (OA)
-Easy Math (Song and Silence)
-Preserve Organ (BoVD) note: this keeps a heart pumping according to the spell

[Vizzerdrix]

A list of cantrips (http://dndtools.eu/spells/?somatic_component=1&duration=&area=&verbal_component=1&_filter=Filter&material_component=1&arcane_focus_component=1&description=&domain_levels__slug=&rulebook__slug=&spell_resistance=&casting_time=&spellclasslevel__level=0&saving_throw=&descriptors__slug=&sub_school__slug=&xp_component=1&divine_focus_component=1&school__slug=&name=&range=&class_levels__slug=)


I can think of a few 3rd party spells I'd like to have. Summon minor animal gets you an animal follower with no more than 1/4a HD. Only one at a time.

Create minor undead is similar to the above spell, but you make an undead instead.

And I know I've seen one to animate fine sized objects or something.

[Silva Stormrage]

Psst. Silent Image is a 1st level spell, unless you're a shadowcraft mage...

I believe a gnome can get it as a cantrip so that might count actually. If it does count then silent image, presdigation, cure minor wounds for me. If it doesn't replace silent image with create water.

[jaydubs]

I'll do you one better than that. The Deftness cantrip (Dragon Magazine #302 page 49; the arcane counterpart to Guidance) grants a +2 to a single skill check.

Ooh... that looks interesting... might even try getting that into my regular games. Thanks. :smallsmile:

[Quarotas]

Summon instrument, for the ability to randomly play music whenever.
Guidance, so I don't suck at playing said instrument.
Create Water, Because the moment I make something electric or flammable there will be a fire, plus free water.

[Jeff the Green]

-Preserve Organ (BoVD) note: this keeps a heart pumping according to the spell

Ooh, yeah, that could be nice. Particularly since you could keep someone's bone marrow, GI tract, liver, kidney, and heart functioning during chemotherapy to drastically increase the dose you could give without killing the patient. Granted, you'd need to open a bunch of fistulae, but with antibiotics and an immune system that isn't suppressed because you're preserving the bone marrow, that's less of a problem than it might be. Ditto for radiotherapy, antiretrovirals, anti-fungals, and other toxic drugs.

Arguably, a daily application to a shallow wound would also prevent HIV from evolving into AIDS too.

[Tulya]

If Pathfinder Psionics is viable, Psionic Minor Creation ("Ectoplasmic Creation") is available as a cantrip. ("Psionic Talent")
You could find a wide variety of uses for being able to create a cubic foot of any non-living organic matter for an hour (dismissible), although you can only have one such creation at a time as a psionic talent.

[Vizzerdrix]

Dragon Mag has one called Coin of the Realm. I'd have to go with that. (makes a pebble look like a gold coin). I could make some good dishonest cash off that.

[Chronos]

Mage Hand is a bad choice, since you can mostly replicate it with Prestidigitation. Increasing the weight limit from 1 pound to 5 and the range from 10' to 25' isn't worth spending another slot on.

And Cure Minor Wounds at will is great if you're an adventurer, but how often do you deal with injuries in your daily life? If I need to deal with injuries, I can just make a Heal check and get the person to a hospital.

I think I'd go with Prestidigitation, Mending, and Summon Instrument. Presti is obvious. Mending because broken things are a lot more common than wounds, and a lot more frustrating. And Summon Instrument, because anything that can produce a wide variety of objects of different shapes and sizes can be used for all sorts of things, even if you never even play them.

[Fax Celestis]

amanuensis works on any nonmagical text.

Including, say, a check.

[atomicwaffle]

Purify Food/Drink
-Save money on food costs
-never get food poisoning again
Prestitidigation
-everything
-enhance seasonings of food
Light
-save money on electricity bill
-never need to worry about having a flashlight ever again

[Rubik]

amanuensis works on any nonmagical text.

Including, say, a check....I think I'm changing Mending to this...

I'd rather use it on a $100 bill, so the banks won't be overly suspicious. Then I'd go out and cash them out in a bunch of places for smaller bills, so nobody can trace the serial numbers. Problem is, it won't transfer pictures. :smallannoyed:

[Kelb_Panthera]

For me, prestidigitation (obviously), then repair minor damage because mending can do minor repairs but repair damage can put a totalled car back together with enough castings. Finally we have a tossup between cure minor and silent image. I don't get hurt much at all but I'm not a gnome either. I think I'd go with image if it counts since I can definitely see being of more use to me, personally.

[Vizzerdrix]

amanuensis works on any nonmagical text.

Including, say, a check.

Yeah but you'd need a bunch of blank checks as well.

[SowZ]

It's the super hero dillemma. I'd feel morally obligated to take CMW, and yet again morally obligated to work many hours a day, every day, in a hospital. Ugh.

I'd try and find a way to get Create Wondrous Item so I could make medical magics. Then I could justify 8 hours a day crafting, 8 sleeping, and eight adventuring so I needn't stay in a hospital all day.

[Psyren]

amanuensis works on any nonmagical text.

Including, say, a check.

No illustrations means no watermarks or magnetic ink, so the furthest you'll get with this scheme these days is put on an FBI watchlist for nothing :smalltongue:

Though I suppose prestidigitation will help when you're eating (ahem) "salad" later.

[FinnDarkblade]

I'd have to go with Repair Minor Damage(although I suppose that depends on what exactly it means by construct), electric Jolt(infinite free power and damage if I need it), and Prestidigitation.

[Drachasor]

Cure Minor is a moral imperative.

Prestidigitation is nearly so and also saves you a lot of money - no need to buy spices, take showers, etc, etc (but it can also clean wounds and tons of other stuff very easily).

After that I'd say mending. Tons of useful applications for it. You can repair electronics with it! No need to buy new clothes ever between this and Prestidigitation.

Really wish I could get an unseen servant though. Oh well.

[Phelix-Mu]

Did we ever get a reading on the CL for this exercise?

EDIT: Found it. Hmm, ML 1 is going to slow down my trip to Mars, but I think with create water and electric jolt, I could charge batteries and use the stored electricity to split the water into hydrogen and oxygen, which can be used to power a rocket.

Now I just need one of the ones we can milk for money so I can buy me a rocket ship! Oh, I guess I could just sell water, of course. Let's see....20 gallons a minute, 1200 an hour, 9600 over 8 hours.

That's some hardcore spamming, but over a couple of days, you could have a mighty big quantity of water. At a bargain for $1 a gallon (I think that is reasonable), that's an income of almost ten thousand per day. Granted one would have to move around to keep selling into a market with good demand.

[Drachasor]

Did we ever get a reading on the CL for this exercise?

Well, that is one advantage of Create Water, which I didn't have room for. It lets you measure your capacity.

[Phelix-Mu]

Well, that is one advantage of Create Water, which I didn't have room for. It lets you measure your capacity.

I really think it's a good choice. Making something out of nothing, and a valued resource at that, is not to be underestimate. If I travel to areas suffering from water shortage or contamination, I can quickly become everyone's favorite person by handing it out free or next-to-free (the cost of the containers and my travel costs, for instance).

Or I can screw them for top dollar and make a killing, before making a quick getaway.:smalltongue:

EDIT: Yeah, the electricity one could be useful, methinks. It's difficult to convert damage into volts, but I'm sure with some careful experimentation, one could make a battery that could absorb at least part of the charge.

[Drachasor]

I really think it's a good choice. Making something out of nothing, and a valued resource at that, is not to be underestimate. If I travel to areas suffering from water shortage or contamination, I can quickly become everyone's favorite person by handing it out free or next-to-free (the cost of the containers and my travel costs, for instance).

Or I can screw them for top dollar and make a killing, before making a quick getaway.:smalltongue:

I'm not saying it is a bad choice at all. If you are going to third world countries then it is extremely good, much better than mending.

I probably wouldn't, so mending would come in more handy. It can do things that are impossible with modern technology. So in a 1st world where there is plenty of water and electricity, no pressing need for it.

[3WhiteFox3]

My initial choices:

1. Purify Food and Drink (No need for refrigeration and can find spoiled food, restore it and either eat it myself or give it to other hungry people).

2. Prestidigitation (Pretty self-explanatory, it's best known as Least Wish after all).

3. Cure Minor Wounds (Unlimited healing is good)


However, there are so many awesome cantrips (especially if you're not too concerned about ethics, criminal activities or immoral behaivor) so I'm going to list some of the more interesting, obscure ones. Not all of them are really all that good, but they have enough applications, that I at least kinda wish I had more cantrips. I'm also mainly listing the ones that others haven't mentioned already.

1. Dawn (SpC) - Pesky people won't wake up when you want them too? Not any longer, cast Dawn and bam, their awake.

2. Daze - Probably my favorite of the offensive spells. I'd probably use it primarily for self-defense. 6 seconds is a lot of time to run away.

3. Detect Disease (OA) - For the germaphobe in all of us. Since it detects disease even on objects or areas and not just on people, you can now know whether or not something might be safe to be near.

4. Fire Eyes (Masters of the Wild) One of the biggest issues with fire-fighting is seeing through the smoke to provide an effective rescue. Now you can make any fire-fighters completely see through fire, smoke and fog. Can also help during a foggy day.

5. Ghost Sound - Play pranks on your friends, cause distractions, confuse people, be your own personal soundtrack. All this and more for just one casting of this exciting new cantrip.

6. Lullaby - Probably one of my favorites if you want to do some crime. Make people around you sluggish and sleepy, great for sneaking past people, stealing or doing other subversive acts.

7. Message - Covert communication without expensive technology. Also mess with people.

8. Minor Disguise (SpC) - Not only does it act as a great way to completely disguise yourself (it lasts for an hour, stack up uses of it to give yourself lots of small alterations that make you pretty much impossible to recognize). Another use is to be able to give yourself makeovers at-will; want your hair a different color? Scar? Tattoo? Make yourself look older or younger. Get that winning smile, etc... (note depending on your interpretation of prestidigitation, this spell is either redundant, takes away some of it's utility or allows you do perform some more focused adjustments to your body) The +2 bonus to a disguise check isn't bad either.

9. Naturewatch (SpC) - Works like Deathwatch for Plants and Animals, except you also get mundane information on them too. Depending on what information you get, this is a great way to not only determine what's wrong with an ailing pet or plant, but also gather information, possibly even on species that little is known about to get facts on them.

10. No Light (BoVD) - Basically the least powerful darkness affect, still useful to hide activity or to give yourself some privacy.

11. Percussion (Song and Silence) - Like ghost sound, but with a much higher volume limit (but restricted to sounds from percussion instruments) however, since the upper limit is a thundering squad of drummers (with no restriction to what kind of drums), you can use it to really fill an area with sound very quickly. Great if you want to really distract people or cover up a noise.

12. Light - Never be in the dark again.

13. Detect Magic - Know for a fact whether or not any magic (besides your own of course) exists.

14. Resistance - Saving Throws cover a lot of bad situations; from catching disease to falling over in a grease puddle. This makes you make them 5% more often.

15. Songbird - For the romantic; make yourself more charming to one person who hears you perform. It's only a +1 bonus but lasts for the duration of the performance and one hour afterwards. (The fluff also makes you look the part of the romantic lead).

[Phelix-Mu]

I'm not saying it is a bad choice at all. If you are going to third world countries then it is extremely good, much better than mending.

I probably wouldn't, so mending would come in more handy. It can do things that are impossible with modern technology. So in a 1st world where there is plenty of water and electricity, no pressing need for it.

Except that people regularly pay over $1 for 16oz of pure bottled water in 1st world countries. Usually more in restaurants. I can fill 16 such bottles in less than six seconds.

You will run out of things to fix before I run out of idiots to sell bottled water to.

[SowZ]

I really think it's a good choice. Making something out of nothing, and a valued resource at that, is not to be underestimate. If I travel to areas suffering from water shortage or contamination, I can quickly become everyone's favorite person by handing it out free or next-to-free (the cost of the containers and my travel costs, for instance).

Or I can screw them for top dollar and make a killing, before making a quick getaway.:smalltongue:

EDIT: Yeah, the electricity one could be useful, methinks. It's difficult to convert damage into volts, but I'm sure with some careful experimentation, one could make a battery that could absorb at least part of the charge.

You could only blast every six seconds, though. No way you could keep up with any real generator. And one damage can't be that many amps. I would bet quite a bit you wouldn't even make minimum wage.

[Fax Celestis]

No illustrations means no watermarks or magnetic ink, so the furthest you'll get with this scheme these days is put on an FBI watchlist for nothing :smalltongue:

Though I suppose prestidigitation will help when you're eating (ahem) "salad" later.

A real check with a forged signature is still valid, especially when the forgery is literally indistinguishable to the original. There are many, many things you can do with a signature and a high charisma score.

[Rubik]

How about Cheat? Improves your odds at gambling considerably, though it's not foolproof -- which is probably better, since nobody will be able to tell that you're not just a bit luckier than anyone else.

[Phelix-Mu]

You could only blast every six seconds, though. No way you could keep up with any real generator. And one damage can't be that many amps. I would bet quite a bit you wouldn't even make minimum wage.

No, I'm just trying to have a way to charge a battery away from earth. See my rocket ship plan. It would be time consuming, of course. My physics could be totally wrong of course.

My main money maker is create water. Looks like I can get my hands on bottles for about 50 cents or so on average. That means I can make $8 in six seconds if I can sell the bottles for $1.

EDIT: Also, this might be my third spell, just cause...well, druid.


Nurturing Seeds
Abjuration
Level: Drd 0
Components: V, S, M, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Up to 10 seeds touched
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
You render up to 10 cuttings or seeds dormant and
suitable for transport. The seeds or cuttings can
then be taken to an area where inclement weather,
lack of moisture, or other problems have kept
plants from growing. The dormant seeds or
cuttings are planted there and will magically take
root and can be used to start new patches of
vegetation, anchoring the soil and creating an
environment suitable for more plants to survive.
This spell protects the transplants from normal
weather conditions, but defilers, hungry animals, or
unnatural phenomenon (like Tyr-Storms) can still
destroy the plants.
Material Components: A tiny bit of dung and a
drop of water.

My notes say it's from the Athas 3.5 materials that were released, but I don't think I have that file anymore.

[Drachasor]

Except that people regularly pay over $1 for 16oz of pure bottled water in 1st world countries. Usually more in restaurants. I can fill 16 such bottles in less than six seconds.

You will run out of things to fix before I run out of idiots to sell bottled water to.

Hard to run out of people to fix. Mending is just useful - though it could be used to improve CPU yields. Cure Minor Wounds is where I'd spend most of my time.

Yeah, there are lots of ways to make lame money. But more important things to do, honestly. Frankly, if you are interested in money, why are you bothering with bottled water? The fact you have magic powers will make you a lot more.

[Phelix-Mu]

Hard to run out of people to fix. Mending is just useful - though it could be used to improve CPU yields. Cure Minor Wounds is where I'd spend most of my time.

Yeah, there are lots of ways to make lame money. But more important things to do, honestly. Frankly, if you are interested in money, why are you bothering with bottled water? The fact you have magic powers will make you a lot more.

I need water to colonize Mars. I need money for a rocket ship. Electricity would be useful, but is not necessary.

The main problem with monetizing "I have magic" is that someone is going to proclaim the Magic Man to be some kind of abomination...witch hunt...government experiments in bunkers. I've read too much science fiction to think that it's cool to have superhuman (but barely) powers. I'd be doing all of my water-spamming in secret, thanks.

EDIT: Someone must have a link to a comprehensive list of official applications for prestidigitation, right? I would appreciate it very much, though I can perhaps also find one on google....

[SowZ]

No, I'm just trying to have a way to charge a battery away from earth. See my rocket ship plan. It would be time consuming, of course. My physics could be totally wrong of course.

My main money maker is create water. Looks like I can get my hands on bottles for about 50 cents or so on average. That means I can make $8 in six seconds if I can sell the bottles for $1.

EDIT: Also, this might be my third spell, just cause...well, druid.



My notes say it's from the Athas 3.5 materials that were released, but I don't think I have that file anymore.

Your ship would lose energy faster than you could give it energy at that rate. And all energy dissipates over time.

[3WhiteFox3]

No, I'm just trying to have a way to charge a battery away from earth. See my rocket ship plan. It would be time consuming, of course. My physics could be totally wrong of course.

My main money maker is create water. Looks like I can get my hands on bottles for about 50 cents or so on average. That means I can make $8 in six seconds if I can sell the bottles for $1.

EDIT: Also, this might be my third spell, just cause...well, druid.



My notes say it's from the Athas 3.5 materials that were released, but I don't think I have that file anymore.


That requires you to actually be able to sell those bottles. I'm not sure you'd be able too. How many people would just buy water bottles that they could buy from the store? Especially since a gallon of water isn't that expensive. Bottled water is cold, has advertising and brand-recognition behind it and isn't some guy/gal selling bottles to random strangers. Unless you have people who really need water, or some other way of guaranteeing that you have a market, I just don't see it working.

Mending or Repair Minor Damage can get you a lot more. (Repair work tends to run pretty expensive) Or it can allow you to find broken objects and resale them after they've been fixed.

[Cassidius]

I'm surprised how many people are taking cure minor wounds. I mean seriously how often are wounds a real problem for everyone here?

I'd definitely take prestidigitation for my first spell, for the sheer utility of it.

I'd take Mage hand next, and no prestidigitation cannot do the same thing with only a single pound. It clearly says you can slowly lift (lift not move otherwise like towards or away from you) by concentrating on an object.

The third one is tough. Prestidigitation covers so many bases I'm tempted to take mending, but how often am I breaking things? Especially now that I can move so many of them with my mind? Probably Ray of frost, but I might go with dancing lights for the wow factor.

*Edit* Also I'm really confused about so many people taking create water. How often are any of us unable to acquire water for crying out loud?

[Phelix-Mu]

That requires you to actually be able to sell those bottles. I'm not sure you'd be able too. How many people would just buy water bottles that they could buy from the store? Especially since a gallon of water isn't that expensive. Bottled water is cold, has advertising and brand-recognition behind it and isn't some guy/gal selling bottles to random strangers. Unless you have people who really need water, or some other way of guaranteeing that you have a market, I just don't see it working.

Mending or Repair Minor Damage can get you a lot more. (Repair work tends to run pretty expensive) Or it can allow you to find broken objects and resale them after they've been fixed.

I'm pretty sure I can undersell any real-world source of water quite considerably with a.) no employees, and b.) no need for a factory. People buy water in bulk all of the time, unrefrigerated. It costs less, but is still profitable even for companies that have to get the water, filter it, and pay people to run the factory.

EDIT: The rocket ship runs on normal fuel sources, but I was looking at using batteries to split water into rocket fuel. Probably not feasible.

[Drachasor]

I need water to colonize Mars. I need money for a rocket ship. Electricity would be useful, but is not necessary.

The main problem with monetizing "I have magic" is that someone is going to proclaim the Magic Man to be some kind of abomination...witch hunt...government experiments in bunkers. I've read too much science fiction to think that it's cool to have superhuman (but barely) powers. I'd be doing all of my water-spamming in secret, thanks.

EDIT: Someone must have a link to a comprehensive list of official applications for prestidigitation, right? I would appreciate it very much, though I can perhaps also find one on google....

Prestidigitation stuff. (https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20010707)

$8 every 6 seconds will not get you to mars. Not at all. Assuming it was all bought (a big question) and you worked 8 hours a day, 8 days a year constantly doing Create Water and had a system setup to collect all that water. That's only 14 million dollars. That's a drop in the bucket. You'd need many billions of dollars to even remotely consider going to Mars.

From a realism standpoint it is going to be a lot less than that after factories (for bottling), transport, and so forth is taken into account. Water is actually pretty cheap too. The bottled water you buy in the store is basically tap the same as tap water. It costs very little to get. So you'd basically need the statup capital and business savvy to make a bottled water business anyway.

And frankly, if you are famous and have magic and are willing to undergo some tests here and there, then you aren't going to get locked away. You should remember the stories you read are fiction. Often realistic consequences are boring.


EDIT: The rocket ship runs on normal fuel sources, but I was looking at using batteries to split water into rocket fuel. Probably not feasible.

That's not what rocket fuel is, and splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen is a very energy intensive process.

[SowZ]

I'm surprised how many people are taking cure minor wounds. I mean seriously how often are wounds a real problem for everyone here?

I'd definitely take prestidigitation for my first spell, for the sheer utility of it.

I'd take Mage hand next, and no prestidigitation cannot do the same thing with only a single pound. It clearly says you can slowly lift (lift not move otherwise like towards or away from you) by concentrating on an object.

The third one is tough. Prestidigitation covers so many bases I'm tempted to take mending, but how often am I breaking things? Especially now that I can move so many of them with my mind? Probably Ray of frost, but I might go with dancing lights for the wow factor.

*Edit* Also I'm really confused about so many people taking create water. How often are any of us unable to acquire water for crying out loud?

I could save thousands of lives

[Jeff the Green]

I'm pretty sure I can undersell any real-world source of water quite considerably with a.) no employees, and b.) no need for a factory. People buy water in bulk all of the time, unrefrigerated. It costs less, but is still profitable even for companies that have to get the water, filter it, and pay people to run the factory.

Not really. The problem is that the main expense is the bottling process and shipping. Also, bottled water companies generally don't have to filter the water. It's delivered to them from the city's water main.

If you want to make money from a cantrip, pick cure minor wounds or mending.

[Phelix-Mu]

I do like your faith in humanity, Drachasor.:smallsmile:

Actually, it looks like I can use create water to fill bottles directly. So that makes a factory much less necessary. I agree that it isn't an infinite source of money, but it will make me quite rich given time.

The real reason that I want water is because it's a resource that will only become more valuable the more time passes. The spell literally makes something from nothing; every six second, 16lbs of stuff that never existed before. Instant violation of the Law of Conservation of Matter. That's never not going to be useful, especially given how useful water (and it's constituent elements) are.

I'd happily trade it in for the plants thing, though. Not sure if that's an "official" spell, though. More googling.

Thanks for the presti list, too.

[Drachasor]

I do like your faith in humanity, Drachasor.:smallsmile:

Hey, humanity has it's problems, but it ain't all bad. Besides, if you are doing all the tests anyways (which is a good idea), then they really don't have a reason to make you disappear. There'd be a lot of cover up work. Frankly, if the government locked people up regularly like that, then there'd be a lot more famous people that went missing.


Actually, it looks like I can use create water to fill bottles directly. So that makes a factory much less necessary. I agree that it isn't an infinite source of money, but it will make me quite rich given time.

You need an assembly line. Bottles need to be moved, caps locked on, bottles packed up, shipped out, etc. There's quite a bit there.


The real reason that I want water is because it's a resource that will only become more valuable the more time passes. The spell literally makes something from nothing; every six second, 16lbs of stuff that never existed before. Instant violation of the Law of Conservation of Matter. That's never not going to be useful, especially given how useful water (and it's constituent elements) are.

Purify Food and Water also handles water issues.


Thanks for the presti list, too.

Np.


I could save thousands of lives

Though, as a practical matter, making yourself as famous as possible and making as much money as possible all to leverage into third world countries...that could save millions easily. Probably billions in the long run.

[Phelix-Mu]

Create Water. Sorry, it's just too cool. I need to know how I'm calculating my CL to know this (since IRL CLs stand to be not great). Regardless, even endless spamming at low CL will result in fun (not to mention money).

Prestidigitation really is total, unending win for versatility, and easily is worth a couple other cantrips right there.

The third one is the tricky one. I'm leaning toward mending, since it is also nicely open-ended. But, do to the fun of irl physics being a thing, I'd also have to give some thought to the ones that create energy damage, since there might be irl uses that aren't quite so novel in game (where the rest of magic makes them totally superfluous).

So, my revised list is probably.

1.) Create water
2.) Nurturing seeds or mending
3.) Prestidigitation

I guess I probably won't go to Mars *sigh*, but at least I can have a nice farm in the middle of the sahara.

Since I really only wanted the money so I could go to Mars...hmm, yeah, mending is nice, but anything I'd actually need I can probably fix myself. Definitely going with the seeds, if I can convince God the DM reality the OP that nurturing seeds is indeed official stuff. All my googling is for naught, though.... I guess the Dark Sun stuff probably came out in Dragon Magazine only, which doesn't make it first party. *sad face*

[Drachasor]

Best wait on Mars anyhow. Lots of radiation in space since there's no atmosphere or magnetic field to protect you. Shortens you lifespan.

Life long and become a robot.

[Sir Chuckles]

Real life, eh?

Let's cut it down to:
Cure Minor Wounds - 1hp is 1/4th of a Commoner's hit die. Two or three of these, and even a knife to the chest is repaired.

Mending - Abusable in the fact that you could easily start a repair business. Nobody has to watch you, you can take their chair/suit/wig/Xbox into a back room, twiddle your thumbs for an hour, then charge $100.

Prestidigitation - The sheer usefulness.

Amanuensis - Even if you can't do pictures, you're a human fax machine. Save on ink, or better yet, squiggles are not words. Recover crossed out words. Spilled a Coke on your character sheet? Coke isn't words.

Create Water - For obvious reasons.

Ray of Frost - 1d3 cold damage is enough to make a grown man cry. This could be applied to all the other damaging ones, probably with Sonic Snap as the best, since it does the least damage. Also, sonic damages objects at full. Depending on the object, you can break anything, given time.

[nobodez]

Well, unless you're in a place that quite literally doesn't have any water, then purify food and drink is more useful than create water, as it works on cubic feet, rather than gallons. Remember, just because a place doesn't have potable water doesn't mean it doesn't have water.

[SowZ]

Hey, humanity has it's problems, but it ain't all bad. Besides, if you are doing all the tests anyways (which is a good idea), then they really don't have a reason to make you disappear. There'd be a lot of cover up work. Frankly, if the government locked people up regularly like that, then there'd be a lot more famous people that went missing.



You need an assembly line. Bottles need to be moved, caps locked on, bottles packed up, shipped out, etc. There's quite a bit there.



Purify Food and Water also handles water issues.



Np.



Though, as a practical matter, making yourself as famous as possible and making as much money as possible all to leverage into third world countries...that could save millions easily. Probably billions in the long run.

I'd do the work of hundreds of doctors a day with zero material expense, zero schooling, and the hospital could be the size of a basketball court. I'd be up there with the most famous people alive and could be filthy rich, if I wanted. I'd spend a lot on security, though. It would be in many people's best interest to kill me.

[Coidzor]

I'm pretty sure I can undersell any real-world source of water quite considerably with a.) no employees, and b.) no need for a factory. People buy water in bulk all of the time, unrefrigerated. It costs less, but is still profitable even for companies that have to get the water, filter it, and pay people to run the factory.

EDIT: The rocket ship runs on normal fuel sources, but I was looking at using batteries to split water into rocket fuel. Probably not feasible.

That alone prevents you from doing anything in a timely manner with this. Your operation would just be too small and inefficient, water supply aside.

[Terazul]

Summon Instrument. There are alot of things you can do even if you can't play any of them. Tuba barricades, man.
Mending. Fix things.
Cure Minor Wounds. Fix people!

I... still really don't get why people like Prestidigitation so much. Especially when you remember the caveat that it can't do anything another spell explicitly does. Yeah all the minor stuff like cleaning/soiling/flavoring/heating is nice and all. But more convenience than really useful in my book.

[SowZ]

Summon Instrument. There are alot of things you can do even if you can't play any of them. Tuba barricades, man.
Mending. Fix things.
Cure Minor Wounds. Fix people!

I... still really don't get why people like Prestidigitation so much. Especially when you remember the caveat that it can't do anything another spell explicitly does. Yeah all the minor stuff like cleaning/soiling/flavoring/heating is nice and all. But more convenience than really useful in my book.

The turning matter into similar types of matter is awesome.

[Terazul]

The turning matter into similar types of matter is awesome.

If you're running 3.0 prestidigitation sure. Still limited to fine-sized objects/creatures and only lasts an hour (though being at-will, basically means you keep refreshing it). I'm still kinda ehh on it.

[Drachasor]

I'd do the work of hundreds of doctors a day with zero material expense, zero schooling, and the hospital could be the size of a basketball court. I'd be up there with the most famous people alive and could be filthy rich, if I wanted. I'd spend a lot on security, though. It would be in many people's best interest to kill me.

I forgot that 3.5 cure minor didn't have a limit on how much you could use it on one person.

Just who do you think would want to kill you? If your are famous having some security is important, of course, but I think some people here have taken some entertainment too seriously.

For what it is worth, Cure Minor Wounds doesn't ACTUALLY do a whole lot of doctor work when you think about it. It just makes a whole lot of doctor work better.

[Guancyto]

Cure Minor is pretty obvious, of all the cantrips it's the most straightforwardly beneficial. Also you have healing magic and the difference between unlimited Cure Minor and Cure Critical is mostly semantic if no one is shooting at you. This is your moneymaker, right here, if you want to get rich you don't really need anything else.

I'm not actually sure I'd take Prestidigitation. I mean, it's a ridiculously versatile set of effects but anything substantial only lasts an hour. Definitely a 'quality of life' cantrip. I'd prefer Mending to fix things up.

Hrm. CL1 Create Water will get you a fair amount of water if spammable. I really like the idea of getting enough water to help terraform Mars. The amount of payload weight you could save by being able to send a human that spontaneously generates water would be kind of absurd.

[Phelix-Mu]

That alone prevents you from doing anything in a timely manner with this. Your operation would just be too small and inefficient, water supply aside.

I pretty much gave up on getting rich; I care little for money (which is good, because I'm pretty poor). I could make a living selling at little league games or some such, but I'd really probably just hand out water to the poor in some third world country (which is likely where I'd choose to live). With water and food (from the seeds spell), I'm set to live wherever I choose.

Purify does seem to work, too, but a constant supply of actual water can be difficult to come by (unless near a river or ocean, in which case, cool). Still, violating Conservation of Matter scores big points with me.

[Vizzerdrix]

That seeds spell is worth a fortune. Landscaping, lumber and orchards are big money depending on your crops.

[Psyren]

A real check with a forged signature is still valid, especially when the forgery is literally indistinguishable to the original. There are many, many things you can do with a signature and a high charisma score.

Part of a "real check" though is the watermark and magnetic ink; amanuensis explicitly won't copy the former and only may copy the latter. "Indistinguishable" - probably not, there are multiple ways to distinguish it.

Could you do it? Possibly.

Could you get away with it? Especially if you do it more than once? Well, that's the thing.

[mjnousak]

1. How often do I cast them and how long do they last?
if infinitely, and very long, then I have a business idea.
Bar Magic
Cantrips:
Prestidigitation, Create Water (optional), Mend (to repair pint/wine glasses).
1. Acquire a hole in the wall store.
2. Install a bar.
3. Get a tap under the bar (or a lot of them and say each on hooks up to several kegs under the floorboards), all taps lead to a single source of carbonated water. Make all the water taste and feel like the beer of the patron's choice via Prestidigitation (nothing says you have to personally know what that drink tastes like, just that it exists and let magic do the rest). If the spells last long enough, the patron will never know and you can charge dirt cheap prices for expensive beers. Likewise, have unlabeled bottles under the bar. Prestidigitation them to have the label of whatever drink the patron wants and play Jesus and make water into wine! Juuust make sure you have a tablet or something so you know what bottle you need to have the wine in (We don't want some wine snob coming in and ruining our fun because your Napa Cellars' Pinor Nior was in a Napa Cellars' Cab Sauv Bottle).
You never spend money on stuff, just keep kegs full of water under the bar if need be (which you can fill), and refuse to show anyone your sales records.
Just insist you can't sell any of it "to go" and you're set. After all, when you can charge $3.00 for a drink that's cost about $10.00 per bottle, or in the case of wines, something that costs several hundred dollars for $20 or so a glass, nobody is gonna question you. Your sanity perhaps, but not you, because they want the booze. And deal exclusively in cash, the IRS can't tax you for something they can't trace. Pay cash for everything and stay in a nice motel/hotel.
Besides, nobody is going to argue with you if you rent out a normal/ slightly nicer than normal room year round (free housekeeping!). Odds are the hotel will be thrilled to keep quiet,(or not care) and you can move to a few different ones every few weeks and just keep your extra stuff in storage. You can just say you're self employed and don't want a house. Or just get an apartment with a landlord who doesn't ask questions, and prefers cash. (not like you'll be short on it).
Offer bottled water as well. Charge small amounts of money, instant cash. You could even carbonate it if you wanted, and prestidigitation could keep the pipes/ machine clean.
Same for cocktails, Water + Prestidigitation = instant cocktail with none of the booze.
Same with Shots, you'd be doing this all the time, but for the sheer amounts of money you can make doing it, you'd gladly keep late hours (Just be open from 6pm-2am, and have happy hour be 6pm-9pm.)
When you're the store who has everything, nobody will mind going to you late.
Hire friends you trust as waiters/cooks if you want food, and if they try and blab, who would believe "the bartender/owner is magic"?

Alternatively:
Same cantrips, work at a cocktail lounge. Cocktails for everyone of every flavor/color/*Insert trait here*. You get huge tips, and nobody asks questions.

Alternatively Alternatively:
Prestidigitation, Magehand, Create Water
Or just run a little cart in a park and do the water thing, carbonate some so it tastes like (insert soda flavor here) when you use Prestidigitation. Ultra healthy AND refreshing. If the spell is about to run out, use Magehand and knock over the person's drink so they have to get a new one before they realize the flavor vanished, or the shrug it off and go away (fill it with enough ice and you can say the flavor got too watered down as a backup).
Prestidigitation them cold. In the winter, change this over to a Hot Chocolate Stand if possible. (no coffee though, if someone wants their caffeine buzz they'll never get it from you, could always offer decaf I suppose.)
All you actually have to regularly buy is cups/straws, which can be bought in bulk for stupidly cheap.

Alternatively Alternatively Alternatively:
Dry cleaning business. Only need prestidigitation. Spam it so everything is clean. Remember, the spell lasts as long as you concentrate (up to an hour per casting), and the effect "become perfectly clean" only need apply for a few seconds to each outfit. Do your whole stock in a few hours, go to bed, spend rest of the day on laptop, wait for pickup, get paid, Profit.
Everything can be cleaned overnight, or charge extra for a rush/ same day job. Take Mend incase you find holes or something in the outfits.
And if you fold them properly, you may only need 1 casting.

(Seriously, get me Wands of Prestidigitation with lotsa charges and a Decanter of Endless water and I'll break the economy within the year.)

[SowZ]

I forgot that 3.5 cure minor didn't have a limit on how much you could use it on one person.

Just who do you think would want to kill you? If your are famous having some security is important, of course, but I think some people here have taken some entertainment too seriously.

For what it is worth, Cure Minor Wounds doesn't ACTUALLY do a whole lot of doctor work when you think about it. It just makes a whole lot of doctor work better.

No, it'll heal any injury to full hp. The worst injuries take a couple minutes. I can't reattach a severed arm or cure a disease, but I can take someone who got shot three times, forty seconds later and BOOP! They can do cartwheels.

Medicine is big money, there's gotta be a few people willing to pay for me dead. Plus, fanatics who think I follow a false G-d. My religious views would get a lot of attention and some extremists would think me demonic. Further, the ability to not only save wounded soldiers lives but make them immediately combat ready would be I valuably tactically. Even if I declared total pacifism, some world leaders against my country still wouldn't want me as a potential war threat.

Not to mention, I could spend some of my billions to combat human trafficking and worker exploitation. That would piss of mafia and corrupt officials.

It would be an incredibly dangerous life.

[Drachasor]

No, it'll heal any injury to full hp. The worst injuries take a couple minutes. I can't reattach a severed arm or cure a disease, but I can take someone who got shot three times, forty seconds later and BOOP! They can do cartwheels.

Medicine is big money, there's gotta be a few people willing to pay for me dead. Plus, fanatics who think I follow a false G-d. My religious views would get a lot of attention and some extremists would think me demonic. Further, the ability to not only save wounded soldiers lives but make them immediately combat ready would be I valuably tactically. Even if I declared total pacifism, some world leaders against my country still wouldn't want me as a potential war threat.

Not to mention, I could spend some of my billions to combat human trafficking and worker exploitation. That would piss of mafia and corrupt officials.

It would be an incredibly dangerous life.

Fanatics, sure. But given hospital bed problems and the increased number of patients you'd bring in, you'd undoubtedly make them money and massively reduce costs. And while sure, you'd have more coverage than a world expert, you still don't see anything remotely like one hospital trying to bump off employees of another. Besides, you'd be most effective complementing existing techniques such as surgery as well as ER work. They'd love to have you help out.

Your tactical value is minimal. For one, you'd be far, far too valuable to risk on the field. So you'd be confined to hospitals. Cure Minor Wounds isn't a regenerate, so I doubt it would take care of major nerve damage or the like. Permanent damage stays permanent. That's the majority of the stuff that keeps people from returning to combat. Given the rise of technology supplementing our military, I don't think you'd make all that big of an impact even if you focused on that. It's not like you can teleport people around.

[SowZ]

Fanatics, sure. But given hospital bed problems and the increased number of patients you'd bring in, you'd undoubtedly make them money and massively reduce costs. And while sure, you'd have more coverage than a world expert, you still don't see anything remotely like one hospital trying to bump off employees of another. Besides, you'd be most effective complementing existing techniques such as surgery as well as ER work. They'd love to have you help out.

Your tactical value is minimal. For one, you'd be far, far too valuable to risk on the field. So you'd be confined to hospitals. Cure Minor Wounds isn't a regenerate, so I doubt it would take care of major nerve damage or the like. Permanent damage stays permanent. That's the majority of the stuff that keeps people from returning to combat. Given the rise of technology supplementing our military, I don't think you'd make all that big of an impact even if you focused on that. It's not like you can teleport people around.

You're right I'd do nothing for permanent damage. I would be great at supplementing surgery, but anything that was simple trauma and I could handle it and then some. There's probably be minimal risk from the medical industry, you are right. Even if I was never put in actual battles, though, the troop turn-around for things like burns and minor gunshots and broken bones would go from, "Weeks or months," to "Whenever that guy gets around to you." Should I so choose to go military.

I could still see myself getting popped off by a foreign power in a Cold War situation just because of the possibility of me working for the government.

An even greater risk would be getting kidnapped and forced to use my abilities for someone else.

[TuggyNE]

A couple of months ago I would have said "trade all those cantrips for 1/day silence", but now I'm not so sure.

Probably scholar's touch (I love books, okay? Although I guess it wouldn't speed my reading up as much as for most people), purify food and drink (now I don't need a fridge and all my food is organic for free), and maybe mending (though the weight limit is a pain and a half) or perhaps prestidigitation (if only for its ability to clean out electronics efficiently).


Amanuensis would make you the fastest coder in the world

Ah, no. It copies text. You know what else copies text and which all coders (by which I assume you mean programmers) use already? Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V. Computers are already ridiculously great at copying, so that's a cantrip that doesn't do too well these days.

[Chronos]

To everyone saying you'd make money selling bottled water: Why aren't you already doing it? If you live in a first world country, you already have access to a nigh-limitless supply of clean water for nearly free. Just fill those bottles from your kitchen sink-- It's what the actual people selling bottled water do.

[Arc_knight25]

Deathwatch - Know how close someone is to death
Detect Disease - Know exactly what disease someone has.
Resistance - + to saving throw

With some medical training you can now identify a disease, know exactly which treatment to use since you know for certain what the disease is and with a little luck (Resistance) bring people back from near death.

With great power comes great responsibility. Use your new found power for good people come on.

[Necroticplague]

I'd like to go into medicine, so cure minor would be excellent. Second off would be prestidigitation. Too versatile, with all kinds of minor handy uses. Never have to worry about hygiene again, never have to eat bad tasting food, handy source of infinite notes to self, could arguably use it forge money. My last option would probably be ectoplasmic strand. Just because the ability to attach things with a hard to remove tether is too abusable. Might just go for ectoplasmic repair instead, though, since I tend to break things.

[mjnousak]

To everyone saying you'd make money selling bottled water: Why aren't you already doing it? If you live in a first world country, you already have access to a nigh-limitless supply of clean water for nearly free. Just fill those bottles from your kitchen sink-- It's what the actual people selling bottled water do.


Have to have a gimmick to it. and that market is currently full to the brim.
The Cart only works so well in certain areas. Not to mention vending licenses are needed in the larger areas. And acquiring water is simple, making it special with Prestidigitation is what would sell it. Not the water itself, but what you can DO with it when combined with the *add any flavor here* ability.
Just get a Soda dispensing machine, create water, prestidigitise to add flavor. It's the adaptability of the Prestidigitation that matters, not the water itself.

[Psyren]

Ah, no. It copies text. You know what else copies text and which all coders (by which I assume you mean programmers) use already? Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V. Computers are already ridiculously great at copying, so that's a cantrip that doesn't do too well these days.

That's why I specified situations where you might not have access to the source code - say, a compiled application, or from a mobile device. The spell copies text whether you can see it or not.

[Telonius]

Hmm... you know, depending on exactly how the Create Water spell works, you might be a sucker to sell it for $1/gallon. If it's creating just pure H20 (with no other contaminants), you could sell that as an industrial component. It's actually kind of hard to get completely pure water.

[gooddragon1]

So, my revised list is probably.

1.) Create water
2.) Nurturing seeds or mending
3.) Prestidigitation

I guess I probably won't go to Mars *sigh*, but at least I can have a nice farm in the middle of the sahara.

Since I really only wanted the money so I could go to Mars...hmm, yeah, mending is nice, but anything I'd actually need I can probably fix myself. Definitely going with the seeds, if I can convince God the DM reality the OP that nurturing seeds is indeed official stuff. All my googling is for naught, though.... I guess the Dark Sun stuff probably came out in Dragon Magazine only, which doesn't make it first party. *sad face*

The word of the day is: bird As long as it isn't from D&D wiki and doesn't look like something that is (like a cantrip that looks more like a 2nd level spell for example).

[Chronos]

Quoth mjnousak:

Just get a Soda dispensing machine, create water, prestidigitise to add flavor. It's the adaptability of the Prestidigitation that matters, not the water itself.
Yeah, but that's using Presti-- We all agree that that spell is great. The point is, Create Water doesn't give you anything you don't already have.

[Joe the Rat]

Well, unless you're in a place that quite literally doesn't have any water, then purify food and drink is more useful than create water, as it works on cubic feet, rather than gallons. Remember, just because a place doesn't have potable water doesn't mean it doesn't have water.Would purification cover desalinization? If so, that'd be a shoo-in for me.


I'd do the work of hundreds of doctors a day with zero material expense, zero schooling, and the hospital could be the size of a basketball court. I'd be up there with the most famous people alive and could be filthy rich, if I wanted. I'd spend a lot on security, though. It would be in many people's best interest to kill me.
Indeed, miracle healing can cause its own problems (http://qntm.org/jesus). Having one-touch stabilization would make you an incredible paramedic, though.

For me:
Prestidigitation is too all around useful. It would also extend my ladder reach by another 10' for hanging decorations.

Mending or minor repair - We love our things. Being able to repair a family heirloom, priceless artwork, or favorite toy would be invaluable.

Either purify food and drink (I don't live in a desert), or ray of frost: self defense (if it ever comes up), plus I can chill a case of beer in no time flat.

[gooddragon1]

People forget something quite common: Cure minor wounds most likely replaces blood loss. Blood donation like you cannot believe.

[Necroticplague]

People forget something quite common: Cure minor wounds most likely replaces blood loss. Blood donation like you cannot believe.

In monster abilities, it is consistently shown that blood loss=CON damage. So sadly, that doesn't work.


Also, I came up with a new use for prestidigitation. It says stuff it makes can't be used as tools, weapons, or spell components. It doesn't say they won't work as drugs. Could make a good chunk of money selling narcotics made out of nowhere. Sure, they go poof after an hour, but by then you're long gone. Or they've already used it, and don't notice. Or just summon gas directly into your tank, screw these gas prices.

[Fax Celestis]

Part of a "real check" though is the watermark and magnetic ink; amanuensis explicitly won't copy the former and only may copy the latter. "Indistinguishable" - probably not, there are multiple ways to distinguish it.

Could you do it? Possibly.

Could you get away with it? Especially if you do it more than once? Well, that's the thing.

You are missing the point.

The check itself is real.

The only thing amanuensis does is copy the writing--specifically, the important part here, the signature.

[gooddragon1]

In monster abilities, it is consistently shown that blood loss=CON damage. So sadly, that doesn't work.

Blood Component (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/campaigns/taint.htm#taintedSorcerer)
Component Cost Damage Dealt
50 gp or less 5
51 gp-300 gp 11
301 gp-750 gp 17
751 gp or more 23

A tainted sorcerer must use blood in place of any spell’s material component (if the spell has no material component, ignore this cost). She has two choices for a source of blood: herself or someone else.

If she uses her own blood, the minor knife cut to draw the requisite blood is a free action that becomes a normal part of casting the spell. Using this ability deals 1 point of damage to the tainted sorcerer, but the character does not need to make a Concentration check to successfully cast the spell, despite the wound.

Substituting blood for a costly material component requires drawing a greater amount of blood. A tainted sorcerer deals more damage to herself when drawing a large amount of blood, as shown on the table below. Also, when using blood to replace a costly component in this way, the tainted sorcerer must make a Concentration check (DC 10 + damage taken + spell level) to successfully cast the spell.

If the tainted sorcerer draws someone else’s blood to use as a material component, the rules given above generally apply. If the source of blood is willing (or helpless) and is adjacent to the tainted sorcerer, she can make a minor knife cut to obtain a small amount of blood as a free action during the casting of the spell. (If the source is not willing or helpless and not adjacent, how long it takes to draw blood depends entirely on the circumstances.)

No single source of blood can be used to replace a costly material component unless the character or creature’s current hit point total is high enough to absorb all the damage without falling below -10. For example, the blood of an orc with 6 hit points remaining is not sufficient to replace a component that costs 301 gp or more, because the orc cannot take the necessary 17 points of damage before it is dead.

Large amounts of blood loss probably are but not small amounts.

[Daebu]

In monster abilities, it is consistently shown that blood loss=CON damage. So sadly, that doesn't work.


Also, I came up with a new use for prestidigitation. It says stuff it makes can't be used as tools, weapons, or spell components. It doesn't say they won't work as drugs. Could make a good chunk of money selling narcotics made out of nowhere. Sure, they go poof after an hour, but by then you're long gone. Or they've already used it, and don't notice. Or just summon gas directly into your tank, screw these gas prices.

Don't bother with illegal drugs. They'll get you arrested, killed, or enslaved and are not even the best sellers. A (therapeutic, legal) drug I help make, for example, sells for $28 000 a vial.


You are missing the point.

The check itself is real.

The only thing amanuensis does is copy the writing--specifically, the important part here, the signature.

Still gotta get the real thing somehow. So now you have a great ability to forge with no theft skills.

Besides, why all the emphasis on illegal activities? Come up with something that won't get you imprisoned for life.

[Drachasor]

That's why I specified situations where you might not have access to the source code - say, a compiled application, or from a mobile device. The spell copies text whether you can see it or not.

The source code isn't contained in a compiled application. Source code is more like a recipe, and the compiled application is the dish. Sticking your hand in the dish and casting the cantrip will just ruin the food. : (

Though a number of mobile devices don't have much compiled code per se. However, even stuff like Java on a android is usually processed to making it as confusing as possible to decipher. More or less.

[Fax Celestis]

Still gotta get the real thing somehow. So now you have a great ability to forge with no theft skills.

Besides, why all the emphasis on illegal activities? Come up with something that won't get you imprisoned for life.

Like I said before: there are a lot of things you can do with a signature.

[Drachasor]

Like I said before: there are a lot of things you can do with a signature.

Yeah, faking a signature isn't going to get you a pardon. That is not how that works.

[Coidzor]

Medicine is big money, there's gotta be a few people willing to pay for me dead. Plus, fanatics who think I follow a false G-d. My religious views would get a lot of attention and some extremists would think me demonic. Further, the ability to not only save wounded soldiers lives but make them immediately combat ready would be I valuably tactically. Even if I declared total pacifism, some world leaders against my country still wouldn't want me as a potential war threat.

Not to mention, I could spend some of my billions to combat human trafficking and worker exploitation. That would piss of mafia and corrupt officials.

You're one person. You'd be almost completely negligible in any kind of modern warfare scenario except on a very, very small-scale or the very, very long-term. As for your impact on the medical community, transportation is a non-negligible cost and the most expensive, horrifying medical stuff are chronic diseases and conditions anyway, not raw trauma. :smallconfused:

Yep, Bill Gates is totally in constant danger from the mob because of his charitable works. :smallamused:

[killem2]

Detect Disease, Cure Minor Wounds, Preserve Organ

[SowZ]

You're one person. You'd be almost completely negligible in any kind of modern warfare scenario except on a very, very small-scale or the very, very long-term. As for your impact on the medical community, transportation is a non-negligible cost and the most expensive, horrifying medical stuff are chronic diseases and conditions anyway, not raw trauma. :smallconfused:

Yep, Bill Gates is totally in constant danger from the mob because of his charitable works. :smallamused:

Bill Gates probably would be in danger of being assassinated if he had no security.

I don't think the impact would be negligible. It wouldn't turn the tide of war, but in pure dollar value I'd be one of the most valuable machines in the service.

Yes, diseases are worse, I wouldn't fix the world. But I could do the job of dozens of ER and ICU centers singlehandedly with a nearly 0 death rate if you can get the victim to me.

[Phelix-Mu]

I was also looking at the presti heating and cooling. It says that after an hour, the original target goes back to normal temperature. Well, depending on the target and what it is immersed in (air, water, or some more heat-conductive fluid), you could use this as a way to produce actual heat/cold that lasts longer, since it doesn't say that temperature dispersed into the surroundings disappears after the duration expires (which involves much more real life physics than the rules bother with). In any case, after an hour of cooling/warming, most things have lost much of their heat already in many common place situations (like a cup of coffee).

By spamming heat on rocks, you could permanently heat up some larger object. Combined with a heat exchange, this might be a novel form of producing low amounts of energy (or at least reducing the costs of steam generation, for instance). Very small-scale to be sure, but endless spamming that requires almost no effort is hard not to try to capitalize on.

The cooling might actually be more useful. While heating stuff actually isn't that hard (most tech actually adds heat over time), taking away too much heat can be a real problem. By consistently keeping a radiator cool, for instance, one might be able to improve performance of some devices.

Something to think about, anyway.

Also, I see no reason that purify doesn't desalinize. Salt in water is actually a contaminant from a living-thing point of view (at least all of us landlubbers...whoa, landlubber is a word??!!). So that could actually be some decent money.

For all the hate on creating water, many of us could make money selling bottled water to idiots on a small scale. Many of us probably buy bottled water, which is why pretty much anyone can jump on the market. It's literally billions of dollars spent every year on something that most of the customers that buy it can get for free.

But, at some point, water conservation is going to become a much bigger issue in our world. With create water or purify, we can have a reliable source of our own. This seems practical, if not the end-all of money-making schemes (and all of us will make less money if just anyone that posts here gets cantrips at will...you all corner the mending market, I'll cover my personal water needs).

It's interesting to think about what would happen to our societies if everyone on the planet suddenly had access to such cantrips. Maybe fuel for another thread.

EDIT: Ah, the OP says I can probably use my nurturing seeds! It definitely seems to be from the materials released as part of the extremely not-together job that was made of Dark Sun in 3.5 (thankfully Athas.org and several other sources picked up considerable slack).

[killem2]

With current medical technology, being able to detect diseases would be unbelievable. The cost that could be saved from not needed radiology would be ground breaking.

:smallredface:

[Phelix-Mu]

Nice call with detect disease. I'm glad to see it was printed somewhere in official stuff...I seem to recall facepalming and wondering why it isn't core when I first saw a version in BoEF.

EDIT: Hmm, as to the "pure water" part, I'd also be interested to know if create water makes normal water, insofar as most water has oxygen and several other atmospheric gases dissolved into it. Hmm. It's really hard not to attempt to terraform Mars with just three cantrips. Sorry.:smalltongue:

[TuggyNE]

That's why I specified situations where you might not have access to the source code - say, a compiled application, or from a mobile device. The spell copies text whether you can see it or not.

It would, yes, if there was anything there to copy. Drachasor is right: a compiled application does not consist of text at all, and the source is long gone. In fact, even expensive decompilers cannot recover the full original source in such cases; they can work out approximately what code will produce the compiled program once more, but comments are completely lacking, compiler optimizations clutter the view rather substantially, and in many cases, even procedure/variable/class names will be lacking. And that's not counting the various ways to obfuscate code that can render almost anything almost unreadable.

In short, no, amanuensis cannot possibly back-translate pure-binary machine code to the original source, any more than it can back-translate a JPEG image's lossy-compressed form back to the original picture. It's just not possible without some very serious magical umph that a cantrip does not have.

(Actually, reversing information loss like that could reasonably be at least a third- or fourth-level Divination, I'd say. It's pretty impressive.)

[Chronos]

That Nurturing Seeds spell is just insane-- It looks like you could actually terraform Mars using that one spell alone.

[SowZ]

I'll definitely take nurturing seeds, too. In between victims at the treatment center, I'd non stop bless seeds all day. Those seeds would then go all over the world. By the end of a year, I'd have close to two million seeds. I'd keep back ten percent or so for future terraforming, and the rest to make a world so abundant in food that no one should starve. There's already enough farmland for that now, but some people starve because some people can self sustain. No more.

It'd do way more than my healing. That would certainly make me a target for assassination.

[Venom3053000]

Prestidigitation thought I need to know how big fine size is

Mend repair all the things

Purify food and water I think I would use it more than create water

[Ajadea]

Detect Disease, Nurturing Seeds, and Purify Food and Drink.

Prestidigitation is cool, but when a spell can be ultimately substituted with a broom, a sufficiently stocked spice drawer, and an hour of one's time, I would consider this insufficient. Preserve Organ looks cool, but that requirement of a living donor seems like it'd be a drain. Mending seems like a good idea, until you remember it can only fix simple breaks. Not, say, bent USB plugs.

Detecting and diagnosing diseases in 6 seconds without complicated tests is invaluable. Nurturing Seeds' permanence and terraforming effect is completely outside the realm of human ability currently. Purify Food and Drink prevents spoilage and makes cooking easier (gather all your ingredients and Purify them before cooking, save on washing time).

[Shoat]

Only going off of standard things here, don't have access to any fancy extra books:

Create Water - Because actually being able to create something out of nothing would be fantastic in real life (ingame it serves quite a bit of utility in all kinds of situations)

Cure Minor Wounds - Free healing and such. Unless you're one of those weirdos who ASSUME that everyone always has wands of healing lying around this is really valuable.

Mage Hand - Infinite utility. I like the Prestidigitation thing aswell, but it's too vague a concept. Mage hand is clearly defined and clearly useful.

[Phelix-Mu]

I have always liked the Dark Sun setting (man-eating halflings!), but when I found that nurturing seeds druid spell, the deal was sealed. Some of the druid spells that were published with that stuff are soooo useful. Not effective in combat, but very useful for the kind of slow-environmental effects that are some of the coolest druid schtick, in my mind.

I am also tempted by detect disease, and preserve organ probably deserves extra mention for just being a pretty cool ability (almost as medically exploitable as healing trauma).

[Coidzor]

I have always liked the Dark Sun setting (man-eating halflings!), but when I found that nurturing seeds druid spell, the deal was sealed. Some of the druid spells that were published with that stuff are soooo useful. Not effective in combat, but very useful for the kind of slow-environmental effects that are some of the coolest druid schtick, in my mind.

I am also tempted by detect disease, and preserve organ probably deserves extra mention for just being a pretty cool ability (almost as medically exploitable as healing trauma).

Hmm. I'll have to look into this then. Such spells are of interest to me as well.

I forgot that detect disease also allows for diagnosis, that definitely bumps it way up.

[SowZ]

Detect Disease is definitely my third spell.

[Drachasor]

What's the roll on detect disease?

That is a very odd spell in a modern setting.

[SowZ]

What's the roll on detect disease?

That is a very odd spell in a modern setting.

Flat DC 20 heal or wisdom, (you get to try both, either one succeeds.) If it is at-will, though, you can take 20 even with no heal ranks and ten wisdom. Even better, if you are some spiritual healing guru, just have 5 assistants and take 10 every time.

[Drachasor]

Flat DC 20 heal or wisdom, (you get to try both, either one succeeds.) If it is at-will, though, you can take 20 even with no heal ranks and ten wisdom. Even better, if you are some spiritual healing guru, just have 5 assistants and take 10 every time.

That's really, really, really bizarre in a number of ways.

Should we assume you need medical knowledge to be able to translate what the disease is into our nomenculture? I don't see how it could possibly tell you what we'd call it -- for one, we might be calling two different diseases the same thing or think one disease is two different ones.

Does Detect Disease include how it should be treated? That's even crazier in some ways.

[Another_Poet]

I love the optimism for Electric Jolt.


"Hi, I'm a complex electronic device!"
"Hi, I can produce a dangerous amount of electricity with my fingers!"
"Oh, that sounds nice. I'm sure you can keep me active by touching me."
zzzzzt
"....Why are the lights out?"

I would choose Cure Minor Wounds, Mending, and either Ghost Sound or Dancing Lights (both are fun).

When someone chooses Light, I assume they don't know Dancing Lights exists.

When someone chooses Create Water, I assume they haven't looked at the fact that they have a computer in front of them and considered their survival situation.

Mending is a close fourth. Or Message.

I'm sure there are amazing clever uses for Dawn (http://dndtools.eu/spells/masters-of-the-wild-a-guidebook-to-barbarians-druids-and-rangers--44/dawn--1875/), too.

[SowZ]

That's really, really, really bizarre in a number of ways.

Should we assume you need medical knowledge to be able to translate what the disease is into our nomenculture? I don't see how it could possibly tell you what we'd call it -- for one, we might be calling two different diseases the same thing or think one disease is two different ones.

Does Detect Disease include how it should be treated? That's even crazier in some ways.

Presumably it tells the name of the disease in the casters own dialect. It doesn't just speak disease names in Common. If a Goblin uses it he will get the name of the disease in Goblin. So it should work fine. It almost assuredly gives the name of the disease relative to the casters own language and culture.

[Drachasor]

Presumably it tells the name of the disease in the casters own dialect. It doesn't just speak disease names in Common. If a Goblin uses it he will get the name of the disease in Goblin. So it should work fine. It almost assuredly gives the name of the disease relative to the casters own language and culture.

And if the disease has not been discovered or there is no word for it?

[SowZ]

And if the disease has not been discovered or there is no word for it?

The wording is you can detect, 'the exact type of disease.' Not the exact name. Even if it is a new disease, you would know what family in belongs in. "Is it an auto-immune disease that attacks the spine?" "Is it a new form of blood cancer?" "Is it a virus that effectively hides itself in the bowels?" "A parasite that attaches at the brain stem?" That's my guess.

If there is no word for the specific disease, you just get a general sense of what the disease does and how it got in there.

[Jgosse]

Cure minor wounds is the only one for sure then I would take Prestidigitation,Preserve Organ,Electric Jolt,or mending.

Cure Minor and Preserve Organ would make you a great asset to the medical community. Add Jolt and you are a combat medic.

Mage Hand and Prestidigitation have unlimited common uses.

[Morph Bark]

That Nurturing Seeds spell is just insane-- It looks like you could actually terraform Mars using that one spell alone.

Where is that spell from?


When someone chooses Create Water, I assume they haven't looked at the fact that they have a computer in front of them and considered their survival situation.

"Welcome to the Mediterranean, where you definitely shouldn't drink from the tap!"

Electronics are more commonly available than fresh, clean water, sadly. Internet access itself, maybe not, though.


Is there a cantrip that allows the user to make skill checks untrained?

[Phelix-Mu]

Where is that spell from?

Um, well, there were several sources of semi-official 3.5 materials for Dark Sun. One was a Drag Magz article (or maybe a series of articles), so that is pretty close to being standard fare. Another was, to the best of my knowledge, some pretty decent-quality stuff from Athas.org. But, in the end, I think I got it from a .pdf compilation of other materials that a friend *ahem* downloaded, which my notes say was titled "Dark Sun 3.5 v3," which annoyingly left me several hard drives ago. *burns incense and knocks on wood*

The OP insinuated that anything balanced and even vaguely 3.x was fair game in response to my direct inquiry on the matter of this spell. I defer to that ruling.

The spell text again, for those that don't want to go fishing for it:
Nurturing Seeds
Abjuration
Level: Drd 0
Components: V, S, M, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Up to 10 seeds touched
Duration: Permanent
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
You render up to 10 cuttings or seeds dormant and
suitable for transport. The seeds or cuttings can
then be taken to an area where inclement weather,
lack of moisture, or other problems have kept
plants from growing. The dormant seeds or
cuttings are planted there and will magically take
root and can be used to start new patches of
vegetation, anchoring the soil and creating an
environment suitable for more plants to survive.
This spell protects the transplants from normal
weather conditions, but defilers, hungry animals, or
unnatural phenomenon (like Tyr-Storms) can still
destroy the plants.
Material Components: A tiny bit of dung and a
drop of water.

A version online I found here (http://dfds.wikia.com/wiki/Druid_Spells) says that it is also a 1st level ranger spell. Hmm. Well, that's all I know about it.

*insert rant about how badly WotC botched Dark Sun, which in 2e was a thing of real beauty and some incredible artwork*

EDIT: From Dragon Magz:

LORESONG
Divination
Level: Brd 1, Sor/Wiz 1
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round/level
Dragon Magazine #: 335 (Spellcraft –
Songsabers of Waterdeep)
You gain temporary mastery in a skill,
even one that you have never studied
before. When you complete this spell,
select a single skill (other than Speak
Language). You gain a +4 competence
bonus on all checks with it, with an
additional +1 bonus for every 2 caster
levels, and you may use it untrained

DOUBLE EDIT: Lol, the index of my .pdf listed it as 0-level. Hmm. I guess someone with the actual magazine could go and check.

[Morph Bark]

Thank you.

Shame that there isn't a 0-level version of Loresong. I wouldn't really need the bonus anyway, I'd just retry and retry. Use it on Autohypnosis. Remember EVERYTHING.


Also, I see a lot of people picked Amanuensis. From what I can find, it's a 3rd-level spell, not a cantrip. :smallconfused:

[Vizzerdrix]

The updated version can be found in the spell conpendium as a cantip and is much less useful than the 3rd level version.

[Elkad]

Will Create Water make heavy water (deuterium instead of regular hydrogen)? If so, you are instantly rich. $1000/liter means over $600/second. Plus it has neat applications for your Mars colony (or as reaction mass to get there).

[Coidzor]

Will Create Water make heavy water (deuterium instead of regular hydrogen)? If so, you are instantly rich. $1000/liter means over $600/second. Plus it has neat applications for your Mars colony (or as reaction mass to get there).

About double your $600 a second if it worked, I think. 2 gallons > 7.57082 liters > $1K/liter > $7570.82/6 seconds > ~$1261.80 & 1/3 of a cent per second.


This spell generates wholesome, drinkable water, just like clean rain water. Water can be created in an area as small as will actually contain the liquid, or in an area three times as large—possibly creating a downpour or filling many small receptacles.

Even though it takes a boatload of heavy water to poison a person, I don't think it qualifies for the wholesome, drinkable water part. Without that though, we still run into the rain water part, and the question of whether we have heavy water rains.

The spell *might* create water with the regular mix of hydrogen, deuterium, and tritium found in nature, though, depending on whether that's the same mix in clean rain water, or what mixes there are that constitute clean rain water.

[Phelix-Mu]

I had this same thought about deuterium. My conclusion though was that, assuming the spell does create water with the normal distribution of nucleotides, the reason that deuterium is so expensive to begin with is that it makes up a really, really, really small proportion of normal water (and is labor-intensive to separate from what I recall). Thus, if the water created is "normal," then I don't see the deuterium source being any more exploitable in the short term than your household tap.

It would be ridiculously borked if you could produce 100% deuterium, and I don't see how you can possible contort the RAW into implying that level of control.

That said, eventually you could have a very large store of water (especially based on rulings of what other activities one might be able to get away with during rounds spent using the cantrip (the rules are pretty sparse on this, as not many of the defined action types cover the types of things that most people spend their time doing these days...and the tactical combat timescale is rarely relevant to life in first world countries). So, you might plausibly have a decent amount of deuterium. But it would be so slow to accomplish that it would likely just be impractical.

EDIT: I would be much more interested if we can get a reading of either purify or create water that leaves us with elementally pure H2O, which, as Telonius suggested earlier, is actually pretty valuable.

[Vedhin]

For you people talking about Nurturing Seeds being semi-official: it's not. It is 100% official if it was made by any of these sites (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/otherworlds.asp). My sources indicate that it does come from the Athas site, so there you go.

For the interested: WotC didn't completely abandon some of the 2e campaign settings when moving to 3e. Instead, they empowered certain fan sites (linked above) to produce new material. If anyone cares about the legalese that gives them the ability to make completely official material, I can dredge it up.

[Chronos]

I don't know, that gives me a lot of warnings about "WotC has no control over any of this content", which sounds like the exact opposite of "official".

[KillianHawkeye]

Well, let's see how creepy I can be?

Silent Portal (SpC), Telempathic Projection (3.0 Psionics Handbook), and Grope (BoEF)



Nah, j/k. :smallamused:

In all seriousness, I would probably take Mage Hand (for all those times when the TV controller is just out of reach), Open/Close (goes pretty well with Mage Hand), and Dancing Lights (because I often find myself stumbling about in the dark).

Although I'd trade them all for at-will Greater Mage Hand, since that can be used to manipulate objects in any way that a real hand could, and do so from a much longer range.

[Thrawn183]

Just a point on CMW. It would certainly be nice to help people recover from wounds more quickly, or possibly with less scarring; however, it's not a cure all. It won't affect things like diseases or loss of limbs.

Why do I mention this? Simple, in countries with access to modern medicine, almost no one that makes it to a hospital alive dies from their injuries. You could absolutely help a lot of people and alleviate their suffering, but you probably wouldn't be saving very many lives.

Just figured I should mention that as far as the whole "moral imperative" thing goes.

[SowZ]

I don't know, that gives me a lot of warnings about "WotC has no control over any of this content", which sounds like the exact opposite of "official".

But WotC still approved it. It's like when a publishing company/original author outsources a sequel to a different author. It's technically still 'canon.' Though considering it a distinct canon from the original is still valid.

[Yahzi]

Cure Minor Wounds. The fact that it stops people from bleeding out means you have a job at any major hospital. They'll pay a surgeon's salary for 6 seconds of work a few times a day.

The other cantrips you pick won't matter, because you'll never have a chance to cast them.

[Rubik]

Cure Minor Wounds. The fact that it stops people from bleeding out means you have a job at any major hospital. They'll pay a surgeon's salary for 6 seconds of work a few times a day.

The other cantrips you pick won't matter, because you'll never have a chance to cast them.Prestidigitation is still useful, since you'll never be caught off-guard in the shower when someone needs medical attention.

[TuggyNE]

I don't suppose there's a cantrip to help you sleep, or function with less sleep, or whatever.

[Melayl]

I don't suppose there's a cantrip to help you sleep, or function with less sleep, or whatever.

Lullaby is the cantrip you seek.

[Dalebert]

I don't suppose there's a cantrip to help you sleep, or function with less sleep, or whatever.

The real-life version is called a CPAP machine (http://imgur.com/ZhN4I7I). It's like an iron lung for people with sleep apnea, an extremely common and yet debilitating condition.


In monster abilities, it is consistently shown that blood loss=CON damage. So sadly, that doesn't work.

It's not that simple. By game mechanics, the cantrip will heal most any injury including most blood loss. If a character goes negative, maybe it's shock or something else, but it includes the possibility they're bleeding to death because that's an injury that regular weapons and creatures can cause without a special CON-drain ability.

The game mechanics simplify a lot of things. That's what makes all these cantrips so awesome. Real life is obviously a lot more complicated. It's why most of the time, you never lose a limb or take permanent nerve damage in the game. Cure spells are intended to work really well on most injuries characters might get or the game would bog down.

[PaucaTerrorem]

As a cook I would take; Cure Insignificant Scratches(no more gloves when I get cut!), Prestidigitation(make that dish "pop" a bit more), and Mage Hand(I can work two stations, SUCK IT saute!).

[Phelix-Mu]

From the OP in response to my direct inquiry about nurturing seeds:

The word of the day is: bird As long as it isn't from D&D wiki and doesn't look like something that is (like a cantrip that looks more like a 2nd level spell for example).

I submit that nurturing seeds, a spell that only allows one to make plants that grow at normal speed without a chance of dying of neglect or inclement weather (and which require existing seeds/cuttings to work at all), is perfectly in line with other 0-level effects. I mean, it will take days to even see any proof that the spell does anything...that's pretty much the definition of "not good enough for 1st." The only in-game effect is that it pretty much makes starvation impossible over the long term, and can guarantee the druid has targets for plant-based spells in certain inhospitable areas.

I never suggested that I had proof it was official (I'm rather certain it isn't...BUT SEE EDIT), or that I actually knew where it was from (cause I still don't...fixed...thanks Vedhin). Just that the OP had set a really wide-open criteria for this particular thread, and that nurturing seeds seemed to meet that criteria.

So, for others that have posted stuff, obsolete 3.0 sources are probably fine, and BoEF probably cuts it too. As long as it meets the OP's balance requirement, any source sounds fine. As ever, the OP can correct me if I'm wrong. And apologies if I have contradicted myself or said stupid stuff; I made a habit over the past week or so of posting really, really late at night, which is pretty much asking for some drivel of mine to be quoted back at me.

EDIT: And double apologies if I completely misread stuff just now, cause it seems I did misread Vedhin's post. Thanks, Vedhin.

[Vedhin]

I don't know, that gives me a lot of warnings about "WotC has no control over any of this content", which sounds like the exact opposite of "official".

I knew I'd need the legalese (http://www.birthright.net/forums/showwiki.php?title=Birthright_license_agreement). I also bolded the most relevant stuff in the spoiler below.


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Provide new content for fans within the guidelines in sections A and B. While there is a great deal of latitude granted in this regard, official websites should remain in close contact with the Brand Manager of D&D Worlds ([email protected]).
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We encourage fan sites to begin making updates to their content to bring it in-line with 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons as soon as possible. We will begin phasing out web pages that do not offer 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons content soon after the launch of the new game system in August 2000.
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This agreement will change as business necessities force us to alter the manner in which we do business. Should the intellectual property currently being supported by the official website be brought back into print, the official status of the web site will be removed and Wizards of the Coast will begin creating new content to support the relaunch of the game (or work with the current official site to migrate content over).
Content created on the official website is considered to be derivative work (as it is based on the intellectual property owned by Wizards of the Coast). This means that fan-created add-ons (such as new net books, adventures, etc.) are jointly owned by both Wizards of the Coast and the creator; neither can do anything outside the official website without the permission of the other.
Good Gaming!
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D&D Worlds
Wizards of the Coast, Inc.



EDIT: And double apologies if I completely misread stuff just now, cause it seems I did misread Vedhin's post. Thanks, Vedhin.

No problem!

[Bruenin]

Prestidigitation because it could have some pretty cool uses with cleaning yourself and just generally always being at your best and helping others. Drink got warm? now it's colder, getting sweaty? Wash it all away. Want to really impress your friends with your cooking? Use Guidance for profession (chef) and then use prestidigitation to flavor it even more.

Guidance is a big one for me too. Even great talents probably only have 12 or 14 in the related attribute, and even if they spent 4 skill points and somehow got skill focus for their related profession, some of the best artists and such would still only manage an 8 for skills. Getting +1 to your skill is an impressive boost then. AND because of the way that people learn. We learn from our mistakes by more or less sticking to the parts of our actions that seemed to work. Whenever you retry something, the mistake isn't what sticks with you but the improvement you made. Because of that, you can use Guidance to artificially boost your skill in something and then develop habits and skills easier. When it wears off you can recast it and it'd boost your newly developed skills. You could train yourself easily and be able to handle any situation that exists that much better because there's a skill for every situation.

Just thought of some uses:
-studying? boost gather information
-lost something? boost search
-want to know something? Boost knowledge. You could then write it down and basically teach yourself anything, completely accurately to infinite knowledge.
-Presentation to do? Boost diplomacy

I'd want Minor Wounds just in case. Even if I have cantrips I don't have a revive and as fun or great as many of these other powers might be, if I lost someone close to me or if I died myself then they wouldn't really be that great anymore. Average hitpoints is 4, so you can heal a great deal of damage in one action and it automatically stabilizes people and stops them from being in a terminal condition.

[Phelix-Mu]

Can I get a source on scholar's touch? Just curious.

Also, I'm gonna throw in my comment about cure minor wounds. There are obvious trauma uses and uses during surgery to slow blood loss, mitigate damage, and speed recovery/wound knitting. That is basically the function of the spell in-game, too (although surgery isn't much of a thing in D&D, yay magic).

Most real-life medical stuff, though, is not really an "injury" per se. People do get hurt of course, and there is no real cost reduction better than "free" and "instantaneous." But, many injuries are already eminently treatable. The real stuff that troubles modern medicine are issues like disease, chronic/terminal conditions, and genetic disorders. None of these could really be fixed by cure minor wounds.

So while you'd be popular, you wouldn't be doing anything revolutionary or that can't be done already (mostly). Cost savings is good, and it allows you to provide the service to people lacking facilities or experts, but you'd still probably want to be an actual doctor on top of having cure minor wounds. Otherwise you'd just keep trying to cure people that might not even have an injury to cure.

Still a really strong choice, though. Really wishing extract drug was 0-level, lol. If that worked on modern pharmaceuticals (which are really just illegal drugs with limited downside and bigger benefits...and sometimes the downside isn't actually that limited), then that would be quite interesting to play around with. Experiment on extracting from novel objects, and you could end up with entirely new drugs. Very much a "DM discretion" spell, though, which makes it a pretty bad candidate, and it's not the right level anyway.

[GreenETC]

I think I'd make mine:

Cure Minor Wounds, so I can always fix up ANYTHING that isn't a complete loss of limb or life.

Mending, to fix all the **** that is broken in my house.

Purify Food and Drink, so I can eat literally anything without worrying about getting sick from it. Plus it's super helpful for cleaning purposes.

[PraxisVetli]

Kill a rabbit.
Gather a bag of sand.
Skin rabbit.
Grill and eat rabbit while converting sand, leather, and charcoal into Rolex's.
????
Profit.


Why we need more than Prestidigitation?

[Dalebert]

I think I'd aim for versatility.

prestidigitation
ghost sound
no light

The last two together could allow for some major stealth and subterfuge tactics.

There's some contradictory language in the spell description. I believe magical light sources are supposed to work as it starts with "Normal light sources cannot illuminate the area" but then it specifically says light counters it allowing the normal conditions to prevail implying light doesn't actually illuminate the area. It just allows the normal light sources in the area (if any) to work. A further implication is any 0-lvl light source might at least have a similar effect in the area of their illumination. Prestidigitation can create small globes of light, probably on a candle scale. But RAW, that is probably not the case.

Even so, you could plunge large areas into darkness with multiple castings. If you had a plan and knew the area well, you could accomplish much. Ghost sounds would help with stealth and would also just have some fun applications for messing with people if you were creative.

[thethird]

Considering that coma is a thing I'll go with dawn, they will be staggered but that is easier to deal with.
My other two will be prestidigitation and mending.

[TuggyNE]

Kill a rabbit.
Gather a bag of sand.
Skin rabbit.
Grill and eat rabbit while converting sand, leather, and charcoal into Rolex's.
????
Profit.


Why we need more than Prestidigitation?

Well, to start with, prestidigitation can't actually do that.
Prestidigitation can create small objects, but they look crude and artificial. The materials created by a prestidigitation spell are extremely fragile, and they cannot be used as tools, weapons, or spell components. Finally, a prestidigitation lacks the power to duplicate any other spell effects.

Since making complex clockwork out of simple materials is decidedly a job for fabricate, prestidigitation just can't do it, even if it was somehow able to otherwise.

[Grynberg]

Prestidigitation looks pretty fun if you bring it over to the real world... Especially the bits that mess with thermodynamics.

Warm: You increase the temperature of an object by about 40° F, but never above 140° F. After an hour the object's temperature returns to normal.

a) decompress air (or any other gas) down to very low pressure
b) heat the decompressed air to 140 F
c) compress the air to a very high pressure

You end up with a hot plasma that gives a constant stream of energy that lasts for an hour. According to the spell description, the temperature remains the same for an hour.

Prestidigitation, definetly.

Now that I have all the free energy I could have, creating water or anything else wouldn't be a problem, so I wouldn't need create water. Electric jolt looses it's value as well among other suggested cantrips.

Message? Annuensis? None of those are very appealing - you can be accessed pretty much anywhere on the planet with one click or a call and why would I need Scholar's Touch when the whole internet is available.

Cure minor wounds looks like a winner combined with preserve organ.

So prestidigestation for free power and cure minor wounds/preserve organ for keeping me going healthy.

EDIT: I was reading the description of prestidigitation and heating only affects 1 pound per casting. So instead of the previous method you can get a long and thin brass pipe with the weight of 1 pound and pump decompressed air trough it. The air will be heated up and compressed which will run the turbines and create plenty of electricity to sustain the pumps with power left over for sale.

Works like the geothermal heat pumps in Iceland, only anywhere.

[PraxisVetli]

Well, to start with, prestidigitation can't actually do that.

Since making complex clockwork out of simple materials is decidedly a job for fabricate, prestidigitation just can't do it, even if it was somehow able to otherwise.

No, You would still have to construct it, it would just supply you with the ruby cogs and alligator skin band.

[Dalebert]

Warm: You increase the temperature of an object by about 40° F, but never above 140° F. After an hour the object's temperature returns to normal.


Oh, wow! I forgot about that part of it. Free heat on demand in NH? I'm in!

I would line my house's sidewalks and driveways with bricks of 1 lb or less and melt all the snow. I'd set a few on my car and melt all the snow. Can you tell we just got 8 inches of snow that I had to shovel for two hours yesterday and that now I'm aching all over? I'd have stacks of bricks in every room--portable heaters. The thermal mass of a big stack of bricks means they'd stay warm and continue to radiate heat long after the spell wore off. I'd have smooth rocks for my bathtub--instant hot tub. Adjust the temp to your taste by turning "on" or "off" a certain number of rocks. Hell, I'd build an outdoor tub that is just too impractical right now because of all the wasted heat with really simple plumbing. Smooth rocks in tanks of water in the house would mean humidifiers. The trick would be figuring out just how much to do so it doesn't get uncomfortably hot. I could easily have a sauna or steam room, even an outdoor one in the winter.

They really should have made the temp change an instantaneous effect. Even then, it would be useful for all the things I mentioned. Would just take a little more recasting now and then, but big deal. Your ideas about exploiting the thermodynamics of it makes me wonder how much gnome engineering exploits it.

[TuggyNE]

No, You would still have to construct it, it would just supply you with the ruby cogs and alligator skin band.

The same problem applies, since making precision ruby/sapphire bearings out of sand, or fine alligator-skin leather out of rabbit, is decidedly the sort of transmutation prestidigitation can't possibly accomplish.

[Chronos]

Quoth Phelix-Mu:

Most real-life medical stuff, though, is not really an "injury" per se. People do get hurt of course, and there is no real cost reduction better than "free" and "instantaneous." But, many injuries are already eminently treatable. The real stuff that troubles modern medicine are issues like disease, chronic/terminal conditions, and genetic disorders. None of these could really be fixed by cure minor wounds.
In fact, a real-life doctor would probably get more use out of Prestidigitation (specifically the cleaning function) than out of Cure Minor Wounds. If you can clean out a wound thoroughly, and bind it with thoroughly-cleaned bandages, it doesn't usually matter much if it takes a day or three to heal naturally, and effortless cleaning of all your tools in a manner consistent with immediate use will prevent a wide variety of cross-infections. Cure Minor might still have a place for a dedicated healer (along with Presti and Detect Disease, or possibly Purify Food and Water), but even there, it shouldn't be the first choice.

[Harrow]

Tome of Magic has 3 Fundamentals that are labeled as the equivalent of 0 level spells. I only bring them up for completeness's sake, as they're all pretty terrible, except maybe Sight Obscured which gives you +5 to any check involving concealing your actions or gestures. Considering how low real-life skill checks are, you could probably use that to become a really good pickpocket or stage magician or something.

Personally, Prestidigitation certainly comes first. Although I wouldn't use it for this, it would actually go pretty well with Sight Obscured to become a stage magician. After that, I would honestly have to draw up a table to roll on. Dancing Lights, Ghost Sound, Mending, Cure Minor Wounds, Guidance, Create Water, and Purify Food and Drink all have too many cool things that I could do with them, I would just have to pick the next two at random.

[nobodez]

Prestidigitation looks pretty fun if you bring it over to the real world... Especially the bits that mess with thermodynamics.

Warm: You increase the temperature of an object by about 40° F, but never above 140° F. After an hour the object's temperature returns to normal.

a) decompress air (or any other gas) down to very low pressure
b) heat the decompressed air to 140 F
c) compress the air to a very high pressure

You end up with a hot plasma that gives a constant stream of energy that lasts for an hour. According to the spell description, the temperature remains the same for an hour.

Prestidigitation, definetly.

Now that I have all the free energy I could have, creating water or anything else wouldn't be a problem, so I wouldn't need create water. Electric jolt looses it's value as well among other suggested cantrips.

Message? Annuensis? None of those are very appealing - you can be accessed pretty much anywhere on the planet with one click or a call and why would I need Scholar's Touch when the whole internet is available.

Cure minor wounds looks like a winner combined with preserve organ.

So prestidigestation for free power and cure minor wounds/preserve organ for keeping me going healthy.

EDIT: I was reading the description of prestidigitation and heating only affects 1 pound per casting. So instead of the previous method you can get a long and thin brass pipe with the weight of 1 pound and pump decompressed air trough it. The air will be heated up and compressed which will run the turbines and create plenty of electricity to sustain the pumps with power left over for sale.

Works like the geothermal heat pumps in Iceland, only anywhere.

What's really awesome is you don't even need anything that complex, just use a Stirling Engine. Or even thermoelectrics. While a standard steam cycle can't work with the bounds of prestidigitation at atmospheric pressure, perhaps a different medium (one that boils below 140 degrees F) would work better.

[Grynberg]

What's really awesome is you don't even need anything that complex, just use a Stirling Engine. Or even thermoelectrics. While a standard steam cycle can't work with the bounds of prestidigitation at atmospheric pressure, perhaps a different medium (one that boils below 140 degrees F) would work better.

Oh, nice. That's probably a more efficient way. You can keep 10 or 20 of these running, easy.

[Drachasor]

In fact, a real-life doctor would probably get more use out of Prestidigitation (specifically the cleaning function) than out of Cure Minor Wounds. If you can clean out a wound thoroughly, and bind it with thoroughly-cleaned bandages, it doesn't usually matter much if it takes a day or three to heal naturally, and effortless cleaning of all your tools in a manner consistent with immediate use will prevent a wide variety of cross-infections. Cure Minor might still have a place for a dedicated healer (along with Presti and Detect Disease, or possibly Purify Food and Water), but even there, it shouldn't be the first choice.

Well, I think he'd use both. They are both invaluable, imho.

Hmm, a real question is how well Prestidigitation can sterilize equipment. That alone could be a huge boon in hospitals if it could do that.

[mjnousak]

Well, I think he'd use both. They are both invaluable, imho.

Hmm, a real question is how well Prestidigitation can sterilize equipment. That alone could be a huge boon in hospitals if it could do that.


"Repel all bacteria" could be a function of prestidigitation, though that may be dangerously close to the "Purify Food and Water" spell's territory. (similar effect, different thing being purified)

[Dalebert]

"Repel all bacteria" could be a function of prestidigitation, though that may be dangerously close to the "Purify Food and Water" spell's territory. (similar effect, different thing being purified)

Prestidigitation would only clean the outsides of things. PF&D penetrates throughout a substance to kill anything. Prestidigitation should be plenty for surgical instruments, bandages, etc. That stuph is def not food or drink. It doesn't have to remain edible after sterilization.

[Morph Bark]

Purify Food and Drink can be pretty potent depending on interpretation.

I mean, humans can be food, too.

[AttilaTheGeek]

I'd take Prestidigitation, Mage Hand, and Message. Prestidigitation, as others have mentioned, is just too good not to take. Mage Hand is something that can be used every single day, all the time, so it's just such a huge convenience. And the same is true for Message: private conversation over a distance would be so helpful in every social situation.

[Icewraith]

With prestidigitation, any way of making very long, thin, thermally conductive objects using one pound of low-density material would be very valuable. Make a bunch of fins, heat one of them every round.

Also, the rules text states you can chill objects as well. Make the cold sink in your engine cycle very, very efficient.

Clean your engine oil without actually changing it? Does a specified volume of fluid count as an "object"?

Edit: Acid splash is an instantaneous conjuration. Gotta be some uses there.

[Nevershutup]

I'd say Dancing Lights, Empathy, and Energy Splash.
Empathy and Energy Splach are on this (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/psionic-talents?tmpl=%2Fsystem%2Fapp%2Ftemplates%2Fprint%2 F) list here.

[Yahzi]

Simple, in countries with access to modern medicine, almost no one that makes it to a hospital alive dies from their injuries. You could absolutely help a lot of people and alleviate their suffering, but you probably wouldn't be saving very many lives.
This is not true. People bleed out from surgeries all the time. Yes that is a tiny percentage of people who go to the hospital, but it is also a large number of people. And CMW automatically stabilizes.

On top of that, many modern medical cures do a lot of damage to the body in in the process of trying to heal it. Chemo, for instance; but there are lots of times people are declared too weak to survive a surgery. Being able to heal people quicker than the medicine is killing them is another whole batch of people saved.

This is the point of threads like this: people underestimate just how tightly technology has leveraged the rules of physics, and just how much mileage we would get out of breaking those rules even in trivial ways.



And the same is true for Message: private conversation over a distance would be so helpful in every social situation.
Your cellphone doesn't do text messaging? :smalltongue:

[TuggyNE]

On top of that, many modern medical cures do a lot of damage to the body in in the process of trying to heal it. Chemo, for instance; but there are lots of times people are declared too weak to survive a surgery. Being able to heal people quicker than the medicine is killing them is another whole batch of people saved.

That's an interesting question, really: chemotherapy is obviously a selective poison (or a range of them), but what's its effect? Does it do HP damage, or is it a Con poison? If the latter, CMiW isn't any use.

[Dimers]

0-level psi? How about inkling, from the 3.0 psi book? Not only does it help you see the future, it lets you know your Wisdom modifier, based on the number of manifestations you can attempt each day.

[Morph Bark]

0-level psi? How about inkling, from the 3.0 psi book? Not only does it help you see the future, it lets you know your Wisdom modifier, based on the number of manifestations you can attempt each day.

Which means you might not be able to use it at all? :smalltongue:

[NichG]

Scale issues mean that pretty much no matter what you take, you aren't going to change the nature of existence for humanity if it involves spamming your cantrip 24 hours a day. In order to really change the world with this stuff, you need to be able to teach it to others.

The big thing would be to select the cantrips that are most likely to give deeper insight into exactly how you got those cantrips in the first place, which probably means Detect Magic for one. Prestidigitation does so many things that its probably a good 'testing' spell, and its nice besides.

What would be the best 'learn how it works' choice for a 3rd spell anyhow?

Edit: Mending is scientifically interesting if it can actually fill in for destroyed information - e.g. damaged microcircuitry where several of the transistors are just gone.

On Cure Minor, its an interesting idea, but I think you'd likely get in over your head with it. Open up a miracle medical practice and you're going to get people coming to you with things you can't cure, and you without the medical knowledge to actually tell when that's the case. Someone might be suffering bleeding as a complication of a deeper problem, for example; when you zap them and the bleeding stops, they'll think they're cured, but it just means it'll be that much longer before they see a real doctor about it.

So basically I'd say, Cure Minor isn't that great a choice unless you've got/are going for a medical degree, or have a doctor you can team up with. Even then, I don't think it'd end up seeing too much use in surgery since its indiscriminate; the surgeons need some parts of the wound to stay open and other parts of the wound to close up.

[Grynberg]

I was recently reading Harry Potted and Methods of Rationality and it made me think about the nature of those cantrips.

If I really could manifest three cantrips at will in real life, I'd subject myself to some serious scientific study to uncover the fundamental mechanics behind the magic and through that, I'd probably start creating my own new spells.. with blackjack and hookers and whiskey.. in fact - forget the blackjack and hookers.

[Vedhin]

Your cellphone doesn't do text messaging? :smalltongue:

Correction: it does not send telegrams.

[Zweisteine]

Prestidigitation seems like the obvious choice, but its uses are so petty, it might not be worth it.

If you are the kind of person to devote yourself entirely to charity, Creat Water would be amazing. Cure Minor Wounds could be as well, but that one does have some issues (look up a few posts). Purify Food and Drink has obvious uses as well.
Preserve Organ has some useful scientific and medical applications.

To make money, Mending is nice (repair business, suggested above as well).

Mage Hand is great. Who doesn't want telekinesis?


I would probably end up taking Prestidigitation, and two of Mage Hand, Purify Food and Drink, and Mending.

[Mirakk]

Cure Minor Wounds, Prestidigitation, and....



caltrops. Because I'm an #*#hole