About cantrips / prestidigitations

[Bullet06320]

as originally post on WOTC boards by Panartias on July 25, 2012
https://web.archive.org/web/20150917015425/http://community.wizards.com/content/forum-topic/3480351



Cantrips or prestidigitations are often underestimated. They are thought of as “harmless gimmick” because they can’t cause direct damage or break the concentration of another wizard. Plus they have a very short range of 10’. Nevertheless they can be very helpful or make life more interesting and comfortable – you can even make partially or as a whole your living with them – but more about this later. And you can indeed indirectly keep another mage from casting: Material-components can be made partially useless or mixed up and redistributed in the pockets of a mage. Like this all spells with material-components can be prevented or procrastinated. Rule of thumb: Precious components (above 1 GP value) can’t be made permanently useless.

Often the Question is what a cantrip / prestidigitation can do. Apart from the things in the spell-description, you can look especially at 1st- and 2ed- level spells and break them down to cantrip-level. In practice these cantrips / prestidigitations serve the purpose to prepare an apprentice for the casting of the corresponding spells – or to find out if they are more or less talented for the different schools of magic.

Hereafter the cantrips / prestidigitations are discussed by school of magic. Many things can be caused in different ways – more or less effective. (See for example sexual cantrips /prestidigitations part 1 – contraception for wizards)

After 1st- edition rules a 1st – level spell is the equivalent of 4 cantrips (0-level spells). A prestidigitation has a duration of 1 hour per level of the wizard – by “special” applications it can possibly be used up faster. With spontaneous spells (magic-point-system) you usually calculate twice the points for a spontaneous spell as for a memorized one. (The GM may be more generous – especially with cantrips / prestidigitations).

Note: 3ed edition reintroduced the cantrip level (0-level spells) and renamed the 1st level “cantrip”-spell “prestidigitation” (a 0-level spell). The 2ed – level spell “protection from cantrips” was dropped.

A cantrip / prestidigitation normally doesn’t need material-components – in special cases they should perhaps be used as a support. (Valuable or rare material-components can enhance the effect of a spell; if such components are required for a spell – for example “summon familiar” – that is a sign that the spell is already very mighty for its level.

A cantrip /prestidigitation doesn’t allow a saving- throw usually – because it is “harmless”. In some special cases saving- throws or attribute-checks may be appropriate for example if the cantrip /prestidigitation is used like the ability “pick pockets”.

Naturally a comparison with other skills and abilities or spells is appropriate, if they cause similar effects. It is then easier to make a classification. The power of the cantrip / prestidigitation should – like all spells – depend from the experience (-level) and skill (or some key-attribute) of the caster.



You can summon items from your personal property, that you carry with you or that are within the spell-range (10’ = 3m) to your hand. (It is best to place the spell beforehand on the item and trigger the spell with a word and / or the snapping of your fingers) Then it teleports (soft “pop” –sound) for example even from a closed backpack or similar or “jumps” fast as lightning in the hand of the mage.

Application: Get a potion or a tool out of your backpack, pick up of a dropped weapon or “quick-draw” a weapon; have always the right components at hand (Slight overlap with alteration / telekinesis) Perhaps faster spell casting (lower initiative).

You can conjure small, harmless animals or “items” - for example draw a rabbit from your hat or doves from your sleeves or similar conjure flowers, a bunch of flowers or butterflies. (Very popular is also the instant banana-peel to make perhaps someone slip). Contrary to an apple summoned from your backpack a conjured one disappears as soon as you bite into it!

You can acquire items not in possession of anyone (Suggestion: slow movement instead of teleport or “jump” – mass less then allowed by unseen servant) for example get the salt from the other end of the table or similar.

Acquiring items from the possession of someone else (for example keys, purse, material-components) is more difficult: Perhaps handle it similar as pick pockets or allow a save for the owner of the item. (Suggestion: Rate of success 5% basis plus 1% per level of the caster plus bonus) “Discovering” doesn’t mean the originator is detected only the attempt! Again slight overlap with alteration / telekinesis…

Further conjuration /summoning cantrips / prestidigitations:

“Summon sexual mound” looks critical – better make it its own 1st – level spell

“Mordenkainens lubrication” / mini grease – not critical!

“Mordenkainens faithful mosquito” conjures a mosquito that pests someone. Is practical invisible by light, but it buzzes loud and penetrating as soon as the victim tries to go to sleep.

Further applications: The above mentioned Magic tricks and sleight of hand. For example draw gold coins from the spectator’s noses or from behind their ears… Game cheating – summon an Ass from your sleeve or even a special card from the stack / deck. Let the object of a shell game disappear. Confidence trick: Pay with a prepared gold coin / small gem, keep the change then get back the gold coin / gem.

Duel of the Conjurers: Wrestle with another mage with the aid of this spell for an item – makes a good pub game as well, if it is about full mugs of beer or shot-glasses full of spirits. The winner is allowed to / has to drink usually, what weakens his magical abilities. A good way to get drunk, if the conditions for total victory are for example 3 wins in a row!

As a variant: Who summons the most items to himself in a given period of time (for example peas, copper-coins, peanuts – good if the total number is uneven) More difficult, if your opponent is allowed to summon items back from you. Again slight overlap with alteration / telekinesis…



You can enchant items to surround them with a soft, magic glow and give them a special quality /attraction. An “enchanted” flower is for example more spectacular than a normal flower. You can even enhance its smell. (Possible overlap with alteration; but scents are rather the domain of enchantment) (You can give even sounds – for example singing, flute playing – a special quality; just as with the “charming smile” support an action magically or make the perception more positive.)

Scents (see above) for example a seductive scent of roses

Charming of persons means at this level supporting your natural charm: A “charming” smile, a wink, a pleading glance / fluttering your eyelashes can support requests or pleas. Suggestion: For example +1 charisma or +1 - +2 to reaction, perhaps a new reaction-roll. Good to flirt or to go without punishment for slight wrongdoings. Normally the “victim” is more friendly and ready to aid than usually. Enhances the gain with begging / charitable collections and with tips for performances and services. The usual rulings for charm apply. Often the charmed persons even react positive, despite knowing that they are being charmed. A hug, a kiss or a blown kiss can be used as well.

You can cheer up / comfort a person

You can support going to sleep: lullaby / bedtime story / “sandman”

You can charm / lure harmless animals for example butterflies.

Application for example an Enchanters-duel: To whom flies a butterfly or who can bind more butterflies to himself. Or like a Miss beauty contest: Who collects the most votes / tokens from the spectators.

You can even make yourself unpopular (mock people) but this is seldom done.




You can make yourself appear younger / older, cleaner or shabby, well rested or exhausted and overall more or less interesting. The alterations are within limits – they are rather small and subtle. A “good light” helps; concentration is necessary.

You can make body-parts for example fingers or hands invisible or hide a familiar. You can cast your face under a hood or a hat in shadows.

You can create soft Music of the Spheres – no words but a recognizable tune! Further possible sound-effects: soft moaning, jingle of money, creaking from a door or cracking of twigs, a clearing of the throat, a rustling (like from a mouse ore rat), a buzzing as from a fly or a mosquito or a farting sound. As always the best effects use the expectations of the spectators or their wishes and fears respectively.

You can give your own eyes or some items a magical glow.

You can create a quite believable illusion of some glowworms

You can create all kinds of illusionary effects. These are instantly recognizable as illusions (a bit transparent); the area of effect is rather small too (suggestion one cubic-foot per level) An excellent use for this is for example to create dungeon- / city- / building-plans / battle-maps as miniatures and 3-dimensional. Richness in detail and complexity depend on the skill and experience level of the mage. (Normally not image and sound at the same time). Illusions of small items are often not very good or durable. It is very hard to create a believable image of a gold coin or a small gem! (It may work if they seem to be lying at the bottom of a well)

It is well suited to support a storyteller or to impress children. Example illusions: “Dragon-egg”, “dancer”, “magical garden”, “castle”

Naturally 2-dimensional images are possible as well:

Shadows can be created quite believable, very popular applications are magical neon signs

The effects of other cantrips / prestidigitations can be copied partially

You can let a person on an existing picture (painting) seemingly look or wink at someone (relative believable)

You can create minor phantasms in a person: “I thought, I did just see/ hear something?!” (Or create the imagination of a flea / mosquito) Or create the imagination of warmth / cold or taste: “Isn’t this sausage very salty?”, “Doesn’t it smell burnt?!”

Good illusions: A slight flickering in the air as from an invisible person, a movement in the shadows or similar.

Competition of illusionists: Who can create the better / richer in detail “mini-hologram” or who can play along or scare an unwilling test person better.



Alteration has the most applications, but many overlaps with other schools (When in doubt these schools should be engaged as well)

You can let grow hair respectively make it longer (doesn’t work, if someone is naturally bald)

You can alter the size of small items a bit and make it fit like this, for example; A ring, gloves, shoes (duration = ?)

You can enlarge or reduce body-parts (see sexual cantrips / prestidigitation): Enlarge breasts, enlarge penis

You can alter the color of items or body-parts for example red hair, green eyes and so on or bleach items for example to remove spots.

“clean” an item

You can create “magical graffiti” - Color-changes of inanimate objects stay for about one month (alterations of the eye-color last for the spell-duration or for one day, “darkening” of the skin for 1 – 2 weeks)

You can remove warts permanently (cure by incantation – perhaps priest or necromancy domain)…

…or create one as a beauty spot.

Create “skin ornaments” like tattoos respectively henna- tattoos (lasts one month)

You can alter the taste of food and drinks “spice” more salty, sweeter, sour, hotter, bitter and so on – even different aromas are possible for example honey, strawberry and so on (these will probably taste a bit artificial though)

Application among other things, you can turn water into wine (one glass or one bottle) that is to say dye it red, make it sweet and sour, add grape-aroma (OK, turns out rather like some kind of lemonade without alcohol, but what the heck)

You can create a small gust of wind

You can levitate / fly a feather around, reach telekinetically for small items (see conjuration / summoning) or levitate an item of approximately the size and weight of a chicken-egg above your palm.

You can (telekinetically) “tinkle” or slightly pinch people and open fasteners like bows, shoelaces or buttons…/animate a small toy or doll, “shape sand or dough”

You can slightly warm (for example your own hands) or cool (foodstuff) (perhaps overlap with evocation)

“Magic mouth XXX” = provides oral pleasure

You can create some light (like from a chemical light-stick or from a match or a candle-flame) enough to read with some difficulty or find a keyhole (Overlap with Illusion / evocation)

You can cause respectively speed up small transformations: Turn a caterpillar into a butterfly or a tadpole into a young frog or similar. Perhaps let a plant germinate, let a bud blossom or hatch a chick from an egg (Temporal acceleration of some hours to some days for small creatures)

Combination-effects of the above are possible by repeated application of the spell – for example hair long and red, penis big, pink and with strawberry-aroma. Gandalf’s shaped, colored, remote controlled smoke rings.

Competition of transmuters: Similar to the illusionists: Who creates the best / most beautiful combination. Competition with other schools in the overlapping areas possible.



The divination-cantrips / prestidigitations can support fortune-telling, astrology and oracles. For example the flower-pedal-oracle: Loves me, loves me not, loves me… They cover many areas left open by normal divination-spells. The main limitation is the short range.

You can determine the momentary mood of a person fairly accurate (empathy) and know “character-traits” quite closely too; for example even guess the sign from the zodiac.

You have better chances when gambling (for example the shell game; suggestion: When successful you an rule out one alternative so that for example you win when throwing a coin, are ok when drawing straws and with the shell game above can exclude one shell)

You are good at guessing high, (distance), weight, passing time “Now we are down here for almost 2 hours!” the age (respectively maturity) of a person (perhaps using palmistry).

Strong wishes of a person can be detected fairly well.

You can find mislaid items on your person or within reach.

You can better find your way around in the dark.

You can determine where north is.

You can locate metal-objects “metal Detector” or spell-components.

Sexual cantrips /prestidigitations: Know fertile days (respectively: Is today a fertile day? Yes- no); divine erogenous zones; pregnancy test - important for “wise women”

Competition of diviners: Who is better at several games of chance or predictions.

Card games: Helps to judge your opponent when you poker or to crib

Guess a Card: red or black, hart or diamonds respectively spades or cross, number or character and so on.

Support cartomancy / tarot

The chances should be improved, even if there is an insecurity / chance of failure for more complex predictions. Using the spell a second time on the same question gives you the same result again.

Toss: Stone, paper, scissor – you know what your opponent is not going to take, so you draw or win

Perhaps a wisdom-check to rule out one alternative (good for yes – no – questions) The comparison with other divination-spells is important to keep the balance. The short range (the person or item has to be close at hand) and the necessary check should be limiting enough in most cases.



Possible Spells:

“Flame” (like a flame from a candle or match; can be used to light / ignite something)

“Spark” (like flicking a cigarette-butt somewhere; range 10’ – it is possible to cause fires)

“Explosion” (like a small firecracker)

“Flash of light” (slightly blinded for one round; -1 or -2)

“Smoke” (Good in combination with other magical effects or to disappear like a Ninja)

“Electricity” (lightning between your fingertips) - can cause a disturbing tinkling (like an electric fence) for example when shaking hands. In the right place and in the right strength “invoke orgasm”

“Small stinking Cloud” – smells of rotten eggs - “I can perform magic – I can make the air stink!” – just as “Spark” it can kill tiny insects.

“Bigby’s insulting hand” (the middle finger is rather prominent); AC as mage, 1 Hp per level, levitates between the mage and a designated opponent.

“Heat” warms up (for example your soup)

“Ice-spray” (good against small injuries)

All in all suitable for “posing”, to signal, warm or cool, light fires and so on…

Competition of invokers: For example who is the first to burn though a rope, who shoots down the most flies or in conjunction with alteration Gotha- or Paint-ball-duel (for example range 10’, +2 to hit, dexterity to doge, magical protection not very effective – the first who gets hit 3 times is out)




Necromancy is about positive and negative energies. The following spells are possible:

“Sterilize” (as the pill after for early abortions) see sexual cantrips / prestidigitations

“Disinfect” (kills germs)

“Infect” (strengthens ill germs) = cold

“Ferment” (supports fermentation)

“Insect-death” (kills tiny insects or lice / bugs / flea – anything with fewer than 1 Hp)

“Create zombie-bugs / spiders” (less than 1 Hp)

“Raise insect” (hard! Raises a just deceased insect)

“Refresh” (refreshing of flowers or foodstuff)

“Ruin” (wither flowers or spoil foodstuff)

“Cold fingers” (a cold touch)

“Goosebumps”

“Cold feet”

“Catch your breath” (faster recovery)

Let limbs go numb or “wake” them up again (overlap with Charm)

Sexual cantrips / prestidigitations: “Re-erection” / “Curse of impotency”

“Treat minor diseases” (faster recovery)

Perhaps “bestow /remove warts” (see alteration)

“Pain / soothe pain”

Competition of necromancers: For example who kills more flies / insects and raises them as zombies.




Every cantrip / prestidigitation can be countered individually - meaning a single effect as with “dispel magic” – not automatic as with “protection from cantrips”

“Protection from pregnancy” (see sexual cantrips / prestidigitations)

“Protection from rain” (like a newspaper over your head or a magical umbrella)

“Protection from annoying insects” (works against summoned or against harmless insects for example mosquitos)

Competition of abjurers: Hmm – rather “defensive” and boring. Perhaps similar to some of the other proposed duels only with the focus on the defense. Or who is the first to dispel / counter a row of other trick-effects.

This thread is open for discussion! Do you think the presented cantrips / prestidigitations are too powerful, too weak or just about right?!

Or have I missed something good – I know a treaty about cantrips / prestidigitations -long as it may be- can hardly be complete. I thought of the following that I missed:

Conjuration / Summoning:

“Sorting” sorts for example a mixture of peas and beans in different bowls

Alteration:

“Shave” shaves a willing target

“Cloud” creates a storm-cloud above someone’s head that rains on him

Divination:

“Minor detect magic” you concentrate on one object within reach. If magical it glows (uses one charge of the cantrip /prestidigitation)

Abjuration:

“Protection from sun” acts like a hat, shades and sunblocker

“Protection from heat /cold” protects you as well from heat / cold as “Leomund’s tiny hut”


Editors' note while this is geared more towards 2e, its still great treatise on the subject and goes well with the following link
https://web.archive.org/web/20161101150918/http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20010707

and I'm adding this link for fun
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2iubg?1001-Uses-for-Prestidigitation

Dragon Magazine 221 pg 20 The Little Wish article, its 2nd edition but its a decent article and brings up the idea to have a prestidigitation for each school, that can do specific type effects based on what school it is

if there are any other good Prestidigitation links or threads, let me know, I can link them all here

[Bullet06320]

for the life of me I have no idea where I copy/pasted this from, but it was in my records, if anyone recognizes the source, let me know I will properly credit it, thanks

PRESTIDIGITATION

Utility: As far as spells go, the real use of this spell is your imagination. It should be noted, that if the spell is used creatively, the DM is permitted to allow up to a +2 circumstance bonus to a given skill check, but this is the full extent of any benefit the spell can grant. It cannot add to saving throws, to hit, damage, or any other roll. Just a +2 circumstance bonus to skill rolls, if the DM is impressed enough. And remember, circumstance bonuses don’t stack. Prestidigitation is the ultimate in spell versatility. Although extremely weak, it lets you perform the gamut of "tawdry tricks" that every sorcerer or wizard on television, in movies, and books should be able to perform. The effects produced by prestidigitation are great for distraction (or, for the optimist: entertainment) and annoyance Prestidigitation is a great and simple spell for injecting some personality into an NPC. Beyond its obvious use as a "performer's" spell, where it can produce flowers from behind an onlooker's ear or make a spoon stand up and dance, it allows sorcerers and wizards to "act" in a truly magical way. Have your NPC arcane spellcaster heat her mug of mulled wine with the use of this spell or make a grand show of her using prestidigitation to whisk away the dirt and grime from the surface she plans on sitting on. Remember that once cast, a character can perform these tricks for up to an hour, so an entire scene could be enhanced in this manner. Alternatively, you could make a house rule: As long as a character uses prestidigitation for purely cosmetic effects (such as those described above), an arcane spellcaster has this spell in effect at all times, which can add a bit of magic and mystery to his everyday actions
Uses for Prestidigitation

You transform one object of Fine size or smaller into another object of roughly the same size. The object can weigh no more than 8 ounces. The change must be within the same kingdom (animal, vegetable, or mineral). Note, you have no control over an animal you create. It acts as an animal of it’s type would act. You can, however, set it’s original mood when it is created (Afraid, Angry, Hungry, Playful, Lethargic, etc)
• “Change” a bucket of paint to paint covering a wall.
• A belt buckle changes shape so it no longer holds the belt in place.
• A hole opens up in a bucket.
• Bite off a piece of your fingernail, spit it at someone, and have it turn into a severed hand in mid air.
• Blow snot out of your nose that turns into a butterfly. Later, when the duration expires, it will turn back. I hope nobody is playing with it. Remember: animal secretions fall under the animal kingdom.
• Create a mirrored surface so you can bounce sunlight down a corridor.
• Cut off a lock of your hair. Make a fake mustache.
• Fix a hole in a bucket for an hour.
• Get tomato seeds. Turn them into tomatoes. Throw them at people. No clean up in an hour.
• If you are paying someone you hate a bag full of gold, change a piece of cloth into a sack. Put the gold in the sack. An hour later (Hopefully while he is crossing the street) the bag reverts to a piece of cloth. Gold goes scattering across the street.
• Make a copper piece look like gold.
• Make a forged document seem aged and brittle.
• Make a gold coin look like it’s made of tin.
• Make alchemist’s fire smell and look like coffee.
• Make an angry wasp appear in someone’s hair.
• Make materials separate from water to get pure water. Now, this doesn’t work with anything that dissolves in the liquid or chemically reacts. If you have muddy water, you can filter out the mud. If you have poison that dissolves in water, you are out of luck.
• Make that thunder stone look like candy.
• Make your foot prints disappear as you walk, for an hour.
• Make your foot prints look like someone else’s.
• Put a hole in a vile of poison someone is holding.
• Put a lump of poison in the bottom of a goblet. Shape the goblet to cover over the poison in a sealed compartment. When the spell expires, the goblet returns to its normal shape, releasing the poison.
• Shape the smoke from a campfire to make your stories that much more dramatic.
• The bottom falls out of the enemy’s quiver.
• Turn a bug into a mouse to distract the wizard’s cat familiar.
• Turn a flask of poison into whiskey.
• Turn coal into diamond.
• Write your name in the snow in “yellow”. Demonstrate amazing penmanship.
• YOU CANNOT Change a shield to have a new insignia. The changed object must be of Fine size and a shield is too big.
• You could animate the corpse of a fine sized animal for an hour. It cannot do any damage, but would count as undead for the duration of the spell.
• You could change a piece of paper into scrap of linen, and then change that into a rose. Likewise, you could change a coin into a ring. You could not, however, turn a strip of leather into a piece of paper.

You reduce the temperature of an object by about 40° F, but never below freezing (32° F). After an hour the object's temperature returns to normal.
• Chill the wine before serving it to a lady friend when you are on a date.
• In very Humid areas, slowly fill up a glass of water via condensation (1 oz water/minute)
• Keep your chocolate from melting on a hot day.
• Sell lemonade on a hot day.

You remove dirt, dust, and stains from floors, walls, dishes, windows, and the like, leaving these surfaces or objects spotless. You can clean an object with a volume of 1 cubic foot, or 1 square foot of the surface of a larger object, each round. The effect does not remove any foreign object of Fine size or larger. Dirt you remove is permanently gone, but objects you clean can get dirty again just like anything else.
• Brush your teeth.
• Clean up part of a summoning circle.
• Clean up those pesky blood stains after you murder a nobleman.
• Clean yourself up after a long trip. Improve those diplomatic checks by smelling nice.
• Clean yourself up after a messy crime to help provide an alibi.
• Never have to wash your hands after going to the bathroom again.
• Pick your nose.
• Pick your friend’s nose.
• When the blood is being poured on the sacrificial stone, clean it up.

You bring color to an object. You can restore faded hues or give it a new color. If you add color, it must be from the visible spectrum (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, or violet). You cannot change an object's pattern, such as adding or removing stripes or polka dots, but you can change the color in a pattern. If you change something’s color, any one section of the object must change to the same color. For example, if you change on polka dot to green, it is all green.
• A blue garment with white stripes becomes green with yellow stripes.
• Change your clothes to be the same color of an enemy militia or evil god’s clergy.
• Have a “truth stone” that can change red when someone “lies”. Useful when trying to bluff someone.
• Human skin has shading, so you cannot change your skin to another color convincingly. You can make it all the same color to help when it comes to camouflage. (At best, a +2 circumstance bonus.)
• If you change your hair color, it will all be the same color and thus look somewhat unnatural. Normal hair has slightly different shades to it because color fades as the hair grows. If you don’t mind neon pink hair, then there is no problems.
• Make the paladin’s sword pink.
• Mood Ring.
• The next time you cast enlarge person on someone, turn them green. Encourage them to say, “Hulk Smash!”
• Turn yourself blue. Claim to be prince of the lake people. Tell villagers the lake people are angry and demand tribute or you and your people will slay the land dwellers.
• You can change the color of your clothing. You cannot add patterns or words, but you can change the shading to anything you could pull off with normal dye.
• YOU CANNOT make an insignia out of color. That would be creating a pattern.

You can count how many of a given object are in an area, as long as you can directly sense the entire area, the objects are all the same, and all objects are within 10 feet of one another. The objects are not moved, you just know a total number of said object in your mind. Note, if there are fake coins, you have to make an appraise check to sort them out.
• Count how many coins are in a pile of gold.
• Figure out how many grains are in a sack.
• Make a mark in the dirt ten feet away. Walk up to it. Make another mark ten feet away. Measure any distance. Figure out where secret doors are by mapping out exact dimensions. Hidden passageways have to take up SOME space, after all.

You can create small objects from nothing. They are crude, fragile, and look artificial. They cannot serve as tools, weapons, or spell components.
• A fake dagger to stab someone. Create fake blood after doing so. Play possum.
• A puff a smoke for a momentary distraction. (at best allowing you to make a new hide skill roll).
• Create a field of fake caltrops that you have no problem running through, but may give pursuers pause.
• Create a small cluster of bells that drop and roll down the side of a mountain.
• Create dice for gambling.
• Create rotting garbage to hide something under.
• Have a pebble appear in someone’s shoe. No matter how many times they take off their shoe, there is always a new pebble in there.
• Have a puppet show.
• Make gritty dust fall on someone whenever they speak.
• Make smoke pour out of someone’s nose. Capture it in a bottle. Claim to have captured their soul. Have the smoke in the bottle resemble them and pound on the glass.
• Replace screws and bolts with conjured screws and bolts. Just enough to hold up something, so it collapses under additional weight. A bridge or balcony for example.
• Stab yourself with a fake dagger, making it crumble. Claim to be invulnerable to normal weapons.
• When you get hit with an arrow, have blood just gush out non-stop. Every time you get wounded, the blood just keeps flying out of you, splattering everywhere. Keep fighting and ignore the blood. After a few rounds, your enemies might freak out wondering exactly what’s going on.
• You create a puff of wind that can push something light up to 1 five foot square.
• You’re sneaking up to an enemy camp, but a guard is blocking your way. Use prestidigitation to drop a small object and make a ruckus.

You leave an object damp to the touch for 1 hour. Damp objects have fire resistance 2 while the effect lasts.
• Dampen the front of the paladin’s pants just as you find the dragon.
• Put out a small campfire, given a few rounds.
• Put out a torch.

You soil, spot, and sully walls, floors, dishes, garments, or the like, leaving them dusty, filthy, or stained. You can dirty an object with a volume of 1 cubic foot, or 1 square foot of the surface of a larger object, each round. Dirt you add remains after the effect ends, but objects you soil can be cleaned again just like anything else.
• Dirty yourself so that you look like you climbed out of a sewer, when you need to fake an alibi.
• Have the local town statue cry blood.
• Lipstick on a man’s collar.
• Look like a leper.
• Make something look worthless so it is overlooked.
• Put blood stains on some sucker and then call the town guards.
• Soil someone’s tunic/pants to embarrass them.
• Suspicious stains on the carpet, ranging from pools of blood to mud tracked in to skid marks left by a dog wiping his butt.
• You could cover your tracks, but it would be slow going. Instead, I recommend Sculpt Spell so that you can ‘dirty up’ your tracks in sand, dust, or snow in various shapes as needed.

You remove dampness and excess moisture from an object. Moisture you remove does not return after the effect ends, but the object can become wet again just like anything else.
• Dry out a book that got wet so the pages don’t curl up.
• Dry socks.
• Evaporate a glass of liquid. (1 cubic foot/round).
• Evaporate just the alcohol from your drink so it appears like you are drinking.
• Evaporate the water out of something to leave behind the concentrated form of whatever isn’t water in the liquid..
• Make a spellcraft roll to dry out a potion until it’s just a highly concentrated drop of liquid. Put it in a fake tooth. Crunch down on it when you really need a +4 to your strength or something. Failing at the spellcraft roll means you ruin the potion while trying to concentrate it. (DC 20 check.)
• Make beef jerky.
• Make trail rations from fruit and nuts. By drying out the fruit
• Make salt from salt water.
• Make something appear “evil” by having drops of holy water boil away in a puff of white vapor. Claim the item cannot just be destroyed by smashing it, because the evil will just escape. Offer to hold it for safekeeping.

You give a substance a better, worse, or different flavor. You could, for example, make porridge taste like lobster bisque. You do not change the substance's quality or wholesomeness. Spoiled food remains spoiled, a poisoned drink is still deadly, and inedible material provides no nourishment -- you can make a twig taste like steak, but it remains a twig.
• Add the favor of poison to convince someone they only have moments to live.
• Flavor the poison to make it harder to detect. (-2 to any skill check to detect.)
• Make a cheap spice taste like a rare an expensive one, then sell it to some sucker.
• Make a dwarf’s ale taste fruity.
• Make a gourmet chef’s work go sour.
• Make cheap inn food taste good.
• Make the food taste awful so everyone else eats less and you get to eat more.

You neatly collect numerous objects. The objects you gather can be no larger than Fine size, no two items can be more than 10 feet apart, and their total weight cannot exceed 1 pound. You can place the gathered objects into a container you touch, or you can form a stack or pile that you touch.
You can gather selectively; for instance, you can pick up just the coins from an area.
• Gather sticks as you walk along and ignite them. Make a trail of small fires at night.
• Gather up all the broken bits of a broken vase.
• Gather up all the oil just sprayed on you before it catches fire.
• Gather up spilt milk.
• Gather up the burning oil splattered on you into your hand and throw it back at the enemy, just to be a bad ass.
• Gather up the coins that have fallen in between your couch cushions.
• Pick up just the copper pieces.

You cause a jet of flame up to 1/2 foot long to shoot forth from your finger. The flame is hot and ignites combustible materials. Lighting a torch with this effect is a standard action (rather than a full-round action), but lighting any other fire with it takes at least a full-round action (DM's discretion).
• Breathe fire
• Burp smoke.
• If someone is drinking REALLY strong alcohol, set his drink on fire.
• Ignite a severed hand.
• Ignite a tinder twig without striking it.
• Light a candle.
• Make something appear to smolder.

You can slowly lift 1 pound of material. The material in question cannot move upward faster then 5 feet a round. An object has no sideways motion, but can be pushed sideways and will maintain it’s weightlessness and relative height.
• Build a ship in a bottle.
• Cause a small stone to float around your head. Tell everyone it’s an Ioun stone of ultimate magic and the source of all your power. Wait until someone tries to steal it.
• Dig a hole one pound of dirt at a time.
• Fish something you dropped in the sewer out.
• Float oil/sovereign glue over a target.
• Go fishing without a fishing line.
• Have a burning, severed hand float up and flip someone the bird.
• Hold the torch.
• Itch in that embarrassing place.
• Lift a key off a hook. Use create air puff to slowly blow it your way.
• Lift a sheet. Have it float around. Make soft moaning sounds.
• Lift the curtains to let sunlight into a room.
• Lift the skirt of a comely maiden to make her think it was the result of the guard she was walking past.
• Make a rock float.
• Make a skeleton’s hand rise up and flip someone off.
• Make a small ball float a foot off the ground. Play air hockey.
• Make little fluttering paper butterflies.
• Make the judge’s powdered wig float off his head at trial.
• Make the pages of your spellbook turn without touching them, Tell people it’s because you don’t want the demon bound into it to escape into your skin.
• Pat yourself on the back.
• Pull the target’s hat down over his eyes.
• Rug supported over a hole.
• Your hair moves dramatically.
• Objects in water are lighter then normal, so you could “lift” a heaver object that was under water then normal. At most you could lift 5 pounds up to the surface. Conversely, you could make something 5 pounds heavier and push it under.

You can create small balls of light, or small balls of darkness. These cannot blind or cause anything more then a small amount of light or a faint shadow.
• A glowing “mark of justice” appears on someone’s forehead.
• Have a “glow” about you.
• Have a gem stone sparkle.
• Have a red spark crackle at the tip of your finger.
• Have your eyes glow demonic red.
• Make someone else’s shadow act like it wants to kill.
• Make your shadow move around and do funny things.
• Motion blur, so you look like you have speed lines. Put it on you as you run, on your sword, on the monk’s hands, on your fork.
• Sparkling white teeth.
• YOU CANNOT make things invisible. You can make them transparent, but you still only gain a +2 to any skill roll to hide said items.

You bring luster to a wood, metal, stone, leather, glass, or ceramic object. The object must be clean to start with. It remains shiny after the effect ends but can become dull again like anything else.
• Actually polish a turd.
• Clean up a suit of armor to make it look better, giving you a +2 for the skill check to sell it.
• Polish the party’s weapons and armor on your shift so they stay rust free and in top condition. Very important in deserts, by the ocean, or any location high in salt content.

You create a smell. It can be nice or awful, but has no effect on scent based powers other then it can make it easier to follow by enhancing someone’s natural scent, or cover up a smell, making it hard to track someone.
• Always have the best perfume.
• Create a ball that smells like catnip to entertain your familiar.
• Make an orc smell like pork.
• Make it smell like someone else farted.
• The smell of brimstone fills the room as you enter dramatically.
• Your *bleep* don’t stink.

You create a two-dimensional visual figment of whatever you desire. You can leave the image hanging in the air, in which case it is immobile, or place it on a mobile object, such as a shield. The image can be no more than 1-foot square, and it lasts a maximum of 1 hour.
• A fake tattoo. It will look fake.
• A good way to interact with people when you are invisible.
• Add a few words or a new insignia over someone’s shield, but only a 1 foot square.
• Create a small mirror floating over someone’s shoulder while you play cards with them. If you are fast and good at distractions, you might even get away with it.
• Make a battle map so you can review the plan of attack.
• Make a floating arrow that says, “They went that way!” then go the other way.
• Put a big target on the back of the paladin’s armor.
• Put a kick me sign on the Monk’s back.
• Put grid lines on something when you are drawing. The grid disappears, but the lines stay straight.
• Put mustaches on a portrait.
• Put X’s over a dead man’s eyes.
• Use sculpt to create a 40 foot wide billboard in the air.

You can perform minor slight of hand. You effectively can teleport any fine sized object to any other point on your body or clothing.
You cannot move it into an extra-dimensional space.
• Be entertaining at a child’s birthday party.
• Dramatically offer a business card.
• Move a coin from your hand to your pocket, or vice versa.
• Pull a coin out of your ear.
• Pull a rabbit out of a hat. Wand of flowers, endless pocket of scarves.
• Run a shell game where the pea is only under the cup when you want it to be.

A faint tinkling sound is possible. A good rule of thumb is any sound you could make with the human voice box.
• Add a dramatic echo when you speak.
• Add that evil reverb when you speak so it sounds like you gargle broken glass when you talk.
• Make the sound of a closing door.
• Make your words have a few second delay, either happen a second too late, or a few seconds early.
• Play a lullaby for a baby.
• Ring for tea.
• Whoopee Cushion.
• Your sword makes “Swoosh” sounds when you swing it.

You magically sew seams in textiles or leather. You can create new stitching or repair old work. Unlike the mending cantrip, you cannot fix rips, holes, or tears (though you can patch or sew them together). If you have thread on hand, the stitches you make remain after the effect ends, but they are no stronger or weaker than normal stitching. You also can sew without thread, but then the seams last only an hour.
• Create something that holds an ingredient suspended over a boiling pot of water. When the spell expires, the ingredient falls in and the alchemical reaction takes place.
• Make a pair of shoes in half the time.
• Stitch together clothing that will fall apart in an hour. Wardrobe Malfunction!

You magically tie a firm knot (as though taking 10 with the Use Rope skill) in a thread, string, cord, rope, or cable up to 10 feet long. You can knot together two such objects if they're within 1 foot of each other.
• Cut the time it takes for the fighter to get on his armor by half.
• Tie someone’s shoe laces together.
• Tie the peace cord over someone’s sword while it’s in his scabbard.
• Tie your shoes without bending over.
• You don’t need any help tying down the main sail.

You can set off any trigger that you are aware of that is in a line of effect and within range. You have to be aware of the trigger and it has to be something that could be set off with approximately 1 pound of pressure. A pressure plate that needs a 100 pound man to walk over it cannot be triggered.
• Make someone’s cocked and loaded crossbow fire. The BAB is effectively zero for whatever he happens to have his crossbow pointed at.
• Set off the dart trap by pushing on the tripwire.

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.
• Melt a wall of ice. Very, Very, Very slowly.
• Warm a bath.
• Warm your apple cider on a cold night.
• Warm your bedroll on a cold night.
• Warm your soup after you left it unattended to go fight off the goblin ninja assassins.
• Warm your tent.

You can untie anything that would succumb to 1 pound of pressure. This is just about anything you could untie or unbutton with one hand.
• A no-hands striptease.
• No more bikini wax.
• Tie up your dress in the back all by yourself.
• Unbutton a blouse.
• Untie someone’s shoes while trying to outrun a dragon.
• You could shave yourself.

Metamagic
Chain: Well, it’s ranged. It technically has a target line. However, I’m going to have to say that it doesn’t have a single target, so you cannot chain it. Sorry.
Earthbound: You would need to program the effect before it went off, but there is no reason you can’t get creative. A whirlwind of smoke, the victim turns green, they smell like bad meat. Annoying, but funny.
Extend: Double the duration of the spell for 1 spell level. Seems like a waste considering cantrips are so cheap.
Persistent: It has a fixed range, so there is no reason you cannot make this spell last for 24 hours.
Retributive: Have the person who hits you turn bright pink.
Sculpt: Now this is the feat to use. Take something from a mere 1 cubic foot to a 20 foot radius. Clean the street, clean your house in one round. Get creative.
Scrolls
Prestidigitation (SL0/CL1): 12.5 gp
Wands
Prestidigitation (SL0/CL1): 375 gp
Prestidigitation Sculpt (SL1/CL1): 750 gp
Super charged wand of area effect clean. Alas, only clean, count, dirty, gather, and sketch benefit from sculpt. The rest are not area of effect and thus are not improved by the feat. Still, it sure speeds up cleaning up your tower.

[Panartias]

Hi,
I just wanted to say thank you, Bullet06320 for taking the time and effort to mirror the content I posted on the WOTC boards over 3 years ago. I consider that very flattering and high praise (I thought nobody would be interested in Cantrips / Prestidigitations any more…)

And the other uses for Prestidigitation are great as well – so thanks for making my day!

--Panartias

[Bullet06320]

Its good content, your views that you posted I felt needed to be saved and shared as well as the extra material I added. I hate seeing knowledge lost, and this helps keep it alive so we all can experience the different views out there on the game that we all enjoy on this forum. and despite being a minor spell, prestidigitation is a very useful spell, its referred to as least wish far too often.

Glad I made your day upon seeing this.

[Rubik]

Catnips, huh?

[Bullet06320]

LOL, I never noticed the typo, I just copy/pasted from the original thread, fixed now

[Bullet06320]

I just thought of the MOST excellent utilitarian Cantrip!!!

Redirect Fart
Causes both the noise and any obnoxious odors to emanate from someone else's trousers, skirt, or dress. Range = (5ft x caster lev); best used in a contingency fashion. Highborn ladies of Waterdeep, Cormyr, and other prominent cities have had some of their finest jewelry bespelled with this effect. On the other end of the spectrum, certain churlish young nobleman have had great fun getting an Orc drunk and feeding him large quantities of cabbage, eggs, and other noxious substances, and then bringing him outside the window of a fancy dinner party, using the spell's magic to redirect the ensuiing cacophany and smell into the room.

A Halfling from the Tunland Marshes was said to have used it with a Catoblepas, but he was later hung because of the resulting deaths.


found this on the WOTC boards, just had to save it, lol