The God of Cantrips - Most overpowered uses you can think of?

[Renduaz]

While most people probably only think about them within combat, as infinitely castable, often instantaneous spells requiring no resting to replenish, cantrips actually have some very devious uses outside of combat scenarios, although you're welcome to offer combat ones as well. Here are a few things I can think of:

Forestbane - Bandits hiding in the woods? Dangerous forest creatures? Annoying encampents? With the firebolt cantrip, you are a fool to engage them. Having an unlimited number of fire motes reaching 120 range and capable of being cast in rapid succession when outside of combat, just pick a relatively clear area at the edge of any wooded or densely vegetated area, begin your barrage, and you can instigate a raging fire that by the time it spreads to your destiny in the middle or other edge of the forest, is going to incinerate everything in sight unless a strong rain downpour or very powerful magic can stop it.

Invisi-llusion - The most stringent reading of the Minor Illusion cantrip allows you to create any 3D static image of your desire within a 5-foot cube. And do you know what happens when you make the image of a cube, or a sphere or anything else for that matter, which perfectly reflects ( as an image ) the background behind it? ( I.E a cube in a room whose front side reflects the back wall, back side the front wall, upside the floor, or downside the ceiling ) That's right, with a proper use of angling, you can sometimes achieve an invisibility effect. For example - You're in a wide dungeon hallway with two stone walls on either side, crouch down next to the right wall, cast the minor illusion with a cube whose left side is an image of that wall, while the back, upper and front are perfect mirror images of the hallway floor ( image perspective disguise the volume of the box and they're all perceived as a flat continuation of the floor to an onlooker who's down the hall, or if looking from the side, then he sees the left side reflecting the wall behind it ). You can then crouch down inside the box and become invisible for 1 minute to observers from the right direction. If casting multiple minor illusions ( Is that allowed? ) then you could even conjure bigger areas or "move invisibly" between invisi-illusions by casting another one next to you, then moving it, letting the other illusion dissipate smoothly. The applications of this technique of course are endless, moreso than just hiding in something like this yourself. Invisible traps are also an obvious option.

Littlefinger - Also employing minor illusion, and a poisoned needle or dart or preferably any kind of sharp ( Although not always ) object coated with poison. Place the object near an intelligent target ( Using magehands cantrips works wonders here ) and cast a minor illusion of a gem or precious item appealing to your target. If he grabs it, then by the time it's revealed as an illusion since his hand passed through, he already stabbed it and it's too late for him.

The Malicious Mender - Take any kind of chain link or metallic cord loop, remove a portion from it through a blacksmith or other means. You can coil it through some door handles, then through something else, use mend and lock them. Or if a small metallic wire, you could use different combinations to jam a lock by inserting it and mending appropriately.

The Delegate of All - Prestidigitation effects last for 1 hour and you can have up to 3 effects at the same time. A combination of creating a nonmagical trinket that can fit in your hand along with making a small mark or symbol appear on an object surface is prone to being used to recreate any kind of badge, token, signed note, seal and so forth that you can think of showing to someone.

[Naanomi]

Mending does let you do fun crafting tricks. Example: make a glass 'bubble' (like those floaty decorative things they always sell at the beach); carefully crack it in half; use 'make hand' to lower it into acid; then mending it back together: throwable acid bomb with no chance of accidental leakage

[Sabeta]

I'm going to say that Invisillusion doesn't work. Your Illusion doesn't actually interact with light at all, just as you cannot use your illusion to create an atmospheric effect (is: fog)

Unless you mean it simply shares the appearance of those things, bit even then that strains the intent of the spell. I don't believe that if you can't make fog or shadows, you also can't perfectly replicate the image of a room. Not at least, without first making an additional arcana check or something.

[Asmotherion]

Ah, I love 5e Cantrips. Unlimited magic for the Caster, Check. Magic Scaling with character level, Check. Unlimited aplications to RP and enhancing the "I am a mage" feel of your character in and out of combat, Check.

The first thing that actually won me over to 5e from 3.5 was Cantrips... No more need for Reserve feats to do what all mages are suposed to do aka using magic instead of weapons all the time, no matter the spell slots. That was also the reason I loved the 3.5 Warlock and Dragon Fire Adept classes, but those are storyes for an other time.

So, on topic. Most people focus on the Minor Illusion cantrip (which does grant a limited percentage of virtual omnipotency to be fair), and what it can or cannot do. Wile I love that cantrip, in fact always take it, no matter what character I make, and have hundereads of "out of the box" ideas about it, so do you (the reader), and probably every person you know that has ever played D&D. This is the reason I won't talk about tricks that involve this cantrip. We all know how good it is after all, and I'd hate to see this thread evolve into a flame war of what it can or cannot do.

So, without further adu, here are some of my favorite:

A) Gaining advantage on an intimidate check, by readying an Eldritch Blast. Simple and straightforward, I love it because the whole "Yes, I'm holding mystical energyes of pure destruction in my hand, and I'll unleash them onto you if I feel like it" concept is more or less the primal reason I love playing D&D. It can obviously work with any spell, like firebolt for example, I just love Eldritch Blast.

B) Prestidigitation and Mage hand for... well, everything. Make all mundane everyday tasks a bit more magical by having it done with magic! From cleaning up with mage hand holding the broom, and multiple castings of prestidigitation to do the dishes, to chilling your beer or warming your foor with Prestidigitation and handling the cup or fork with Mage hand, everything you do is done by magic. You delicate hands are used only for providing Somatic and Material components, and are too important for any other task. Also, nothing screams "I'm a mage" better than having everything literally done by magic.

C) Fire Bolt as a trap. Most people suggest that firebolt is overrated, and that a mage should pick any other attack cantrip other than this. I disagree. Not only do I love the mini-fireball theme, and how cool it is to shoot fire from your own hands at will, it's also the out-of-the-box concept that makes this cantrip amazing. As I've mentioned a million times, I play a Warlock dip most of the time, and I'm proud about it. That means I always have Eldritch Blast. Nevertheless, I always get my hands of Fire Bolt, for this simple reson: Tacktical advantage. It's so awesome to set something Ablaze, and then knock your enemy on it for extra fire damage (with repelling blast). Trap them in fires by locking them into position. If you want to dedicate yourself to the idea of a Fire-Bender, add Control Flames to your arsenal.

D) Avoid Combat with Prestidigitation. If you are against a beast, grab a rock. No, not what you're thinking. First, change it's Taste to that of a mid-cooked Stake, and then make it smell like one. Then, either throw the rock, or (instead of using a rock, use bread for this one), feed the beast. Not only did you avoid combat this way (either by running away or feeding), but you even potentially made an animal companion in the process. The Druids of the Emerald Enclave, Medieval Peta and Green Peace can be proud of you.

E) Lost your Arcane Tower Keys? Out of spell slots to cast Knock from a tiresome day of adventuring? No problem, as you can create a 6 second copy of your key with prestidigitation. Ofcource you can also extend this use for more illegal uses, such as getting out of prison or into people's houses, but any sane DM will probably rule that you first have to get a good and clost look of the key in question before doing that. Also, the disclaimer: This information is given for scientific and entertrainment purposed only. Asmotherion TM is no to be held responsible for any misuses and/or criminal activities using the above information in any fictional or otherwise world. Asmotherion TM encourages fictional characters to hide their keys away from the sight of people with magical talent, be it Arcane, Divine or otherwise.

F) Who said a shield is useless to you just because you are not proficient with it? Find a shield within the spell's weight limit, and have a mage hand hold it between yourself and the enemy. Not only would that provide you with 3/4 cover (especially if you're quite short... I'm looking at you Gnome Diviner Wizard Optimiser), it can also potentially give you concealment. Obviously it's no Bigby's Hand, and it's mostly useless against melee attackers, but it should be quite the effective trick against Ranged Attackers and Enemy Casters... Actually, if you're not a melee caster, what were you doing in melee in the first place? Run (to the) Forest, run!

Will update shortly.

[Renduaz]

I'm going to say that Invisillusion doesn't work. Your Illusion doesn't actually interact with light at all, just as you cannot use your illusion to create an atmospheric effect (is: fog)

Unless you mean it simply shares the appearance of those things, bit even then that strains the intent of the spell. I don't believe that if you can't make fog or shadows, you also can't perfectly replicate the image of a room. Not at least, without first making an additional arcana check or something.

I meant an identical image of the background, yes. It also might be logical to suggest you won't get it perfectly, but there's honestly nothing that says otherwise. The spell description is that you can make any image. I guess a check can be in order if you want to.


Ah, I love 5e Cantrips. Unlimited magic for the Caster, Check. Magic Scaling with character level, Check. Unlimited aplications to RP and enhancing the "I am a mage" feel of your character in and out of combat, Check.

The first thing that actually won me over to 5e from 3.5 was Cantrips... No more need for Reserve feats to do what all mages are suposed to do aka using magic instead of weapons all the time, no matter the spell slots. That was also the reason I loved the 3.5 Warlock and Dragon Fire Adept classes, but those are storyes for an other time.

So, on topic. Most people focus on the Minor Illusion cantrip (which does grant a limited percentage of virtual omnipotency to be fair), and what it can or cannot do. Wile I love that cantrip, in fact always take it, no matter what character I make, and have hundereads of "out of the box" ideas about it, so do you (the reader), and probably every person you know that has ever played D&D. This is the reason I won't talk about tricks that involve this cantrip. We all know how good it is after all, and I'd hate to see this thread evolve into a flame war of what it can or cannot do.

So, without further adu, here are some of my favorite:

A) Gaining advantage on an intimidate check, by readying an Eldritch Blast. Simple and straightforward, I love it because the whole "Yes, I'm holding mystical energyes of pure destruction in my hand, and I'll unleash them onto you if I feel like it" concept is more or less the primal reason I love playing D&D. It can obviously work with any spell, like firebolt for example, I just love Eldritch Blast.

B) Prestidigitation and Mage hand for... well, everything. Make all mundane everyday tasks a bit more magical by having it done with magic! From cleaning up with mage hand holding the broom, and multiple castings of prestidigitation to do the dishes, to chilling your beer or warming your foor with Prestidigitation and handling the cup or fork with Mage hand, everything you do is done by magic. You delicate hands are used only for providing Somatic and Material components, and are too important for any other task. Also, nothing screams "I'm a mage" better than having everything literally done by magic.

C) Fire Bolt as a trap. Most people suggest that firebolt is overrated, and that a mage should pick any other attack cantrip other than this. I disagree. Not only do I love the mini-fireball theme, and how cool it is to shoot fire from your own hands at will, it's also the out-of-the-box concept that makes this cantrip amazing. As I've mentioned a million times, I play a Warlock dip most of the time, and I'm proud about it. That means I always have Eldritch Blast. Nevertheless, I always get my hands of Fire Bolt, for this simple reson: Tacktical advantage. It's so awesome to set something Ablaze, and then knock your enemy on it for extra fire damage (with repelling blast). Trap them in fires by locking them into position. If you want to dedicate yourself to the idea of a Fire-Bender, add Control Flames to your arsenal.

D) Avoid Combat with Prestidigitation. If you are against a beast, grab a rock. No, not what you're thinking. First, change it's Taste to that of a mid-cooked Stake, and then make it smell like one. Then, either throw the rock, or (instead of using a rock, use bread for this one), feed the beast. Not only did you avoid combat this way (either by running away or feeding), but you even potentially made an animal companion in the process. The Druids of the Emerald Enclave, Medieval Peta and Green Peace can be proud of you.

E) Lost your Arcane Tower Keys? Out of spell slots to cast Knock from a tiresome day of adventuring? No problem, as you can create a 6 second copy of your key with prestidigitation. Ofcource you can also extend this use for more illegal uses, such as getting out of prison or into people's houses, but any sane DM will probably rule that you first have to get a good and clost look of the key in question before doing that. Also, the disclaimer: This information is given for scientific and entertrainment purposed only. Asmotherion TM is no to be held responsible for any misuses and/or criminal activities using the above information in any fictional or otherwise world. Asmotherion TM encourages fictional characters to hide their keys away from the sight of people with magical talent, be it Arcane, Divine or otherwise.

F) Who said a shield is useless to you just because you are not proficient with it? Find a shield within the spell's weight limit, and have a mage hand hold it between yourself and the enemy. Not only would that provide you with 3/4 cover (especially if you're quite short... I'm looking at you Gnome Diviner Wizard Optimiser), it can also potentially give you concealment. Obviously it's no Bigby's Hand, and it's mostly useless against melee attackers, but it should be quite the effective trick against Ranged Attackers and Enemy Casters... Actually, if you're not a melee caster, what were you doing in melee in the first place? Run (to the) Forest, run!

Will update shortly.


Awesome, although I should add that you probably wouldn't make much of a friend by feeding a beast a rock, since only the smell and taste would be changed, not the other properties like the texture. If the beast even swallows in the first place after biting into hard rock, it might actually even be more effective for the purpose of dispatching the beast. Also, I keep feeling there should be some game-breaking godlike powers for the firebolt cantrip outside of combat, being essentially able to hurl infinite motes of fire and generate unlimited energy in the span of seconds. Even moreso with other casters. Perhaps with some magical items.

[Drackolus]

I have a eater genasi coast druid/arcana cleric with m. Initiate and ritual caster for Wizard. Great character.
I like to use mold earth to create a small pool and fill it with create water (she is half merid/half merfolk, so she prefers to sleep underwater.) I also used mold earth to hide underground from basilisks.

[Vae]

The Presti-Perfect Chef: prestidigitation allows for three simultaneous uses so a wizard can get cheep rations and 1: change the flavor to something delicious, 2: make it look like said delicious thing and 3: heat it to exactly the correct temperature.

So cheep, filling, healthy and seemingly 5 star restaurant quality food. The Wizard retires from his job as an adventurer and becomes a rich world famous chef and he was only a level 1.

[Cespenar]

I used Mold Earth so many times in the Underdark that our DM started to roll eyes at me.

-Instant burials.

-Setting up an ambush in a naked tunnel? Mold Earth some recesses to hide into.

-Trapped in a pit? Mold Earth and make some stairs.

-Earth-aligned races? Mold Earth to make some cool shapes and bond over.

[NNescio]

Shape Water can be used to make ad-hoc ball bearings (shape into simple spheres, then freeze), to check for traps or hidden cracks/crevices on floors (pour water out and force it to flow along the floor), to crack open certain mechanisms or even hard substances (cause water to flow inside, then freeze it), as an ad-hoc lockpick (same trick as before, but possibly will require a Spellcasting Ability [Thieves Tools] check), to walk across a body of water (freeze the surface), and if time permits, to drop a 5ft cube (125 cubic foot, making it ~7150 lbs) of ice on your enemies (use Shape Water to animate a cube of water, then force more water into it with the "flow" or "move" option. Best done in rain.)

At later levels you may have the luxury of using Tidal Wave to conjure the water you need for freezing purposes. You can even use Tidal Wave in combat and use the water remaining afterwards for Shape Water purposes.

Shape Water is also useful to provide the material components for Simulacrum and the (ice) objects for True Polymorph.

As for Minor Illusion...


Every High Elf should take Minor Illusion. Best cantrip in the game bar none.

Need a distraction? Minor Illusion! Better than Prestidigitation/Thaurmaturgy too, for this purpose!

Need something to hide inside? Minor Illusion!

Need to break LoS? Like, say, against enemy Counterspells? Minor Illusion! Works even if they know you're there!

Need advantage on your attack roll next round? Or your ally's? Minor Illusion! True Strike is for chumps. Heck, you even get to keep your advantage sometimes, if your attack doesn't physical interact with the illusion (c.f. Chill Touch)!

Want disadvantage against one enemy attack roll? Minor Illusion!

Need to conceal or set up traps? Minor Illusion!

Need to tell your party or an NPC what you just saw? Minor Illusion!

Need to help your party illusionist (Actual Illusionist, or a Warlock, Bard, etc) make their Silent Images seem more real? Now with Minor Illusion,anyone can be a sound projectionist too!

Need to spruce up a conversation? Intimidate an enemy, or punctuate your statements with images? A picture is worth a thousand words, as they say, and this spell provides RP opportunities par excellence! Say hello to MINOR ILLUSION!

[Haldir]

Turn any important square into small but decent damage with the Bonfire cantrip. I'm a huge fan of it.

[Renduaz]

I used Mold Earth so many times in the Underdark that our DM started to roll eyes at me.

-Instant burials.

-Setting up an ambush in a naked tunnel? Mold Earth some recesses to hide into.

-Trapped in a pit? Mold Earth and make some stairs.

-Earth-aligned races? Mold Earth to make some cool shapes and bond over.


Shape Water can be used to make ad-hoc ball bearings (shape into simple spheres, then freeze), to check for traps or hidden cracks/crevices on floors (pour water out and force it to flow along the floor), to crack open certain mechanisms or even hard substances (cause water to flow inside, then freeze it), as an ad-hoc lockpick (same trick as before, but possibly will require a Spellcasting Ability [Thieves Tools] check), to walk across a body of water (freeze the surface), and if time permits, to drop a 5ft cube (125 cubic foot, making it ~7150 lbs) of ice on your enemies (use Shape Water to animate a cube of water, then force more water into it with the "flow" or "move" option. Best done in rain.)

At later levels you may have the luxury of using Tidal Wave to conjure the water you need for freezing purposes. You can even use Tidal Wave in combat and use the water remaining afterwards for Shape Water purposes.

Shape Water is also useful to provide the material components for Simulacrum and the (ice) objects for True Polymorph.

As for Minor Illusion...

These are all great and I would've written some tricks with those cantrips myself, But are they canonical for 5E? They don't appear in either the Wizards of the Coast Spell Lists, nor in the Forgotten Realms Wiki section for cantrips. And I only picked cantrips which are featured in the official Wizards of the Coast list. I know they're only allowed in Princes of the Apocalypse campaign.

[LudicSavant]

These are all great and I would've written some tricks with those cantrips myself, But are they canonical for 5E? Yes. They're both from the Elemental Evil Player's Companion.

[Renduaz]

Yes. They're both from the Elemental Evil Player's Companion.

But it's only if the DM allows you to use them in other campaigns though, right? According to the introduction to the Player's Companion. So it might not be universal.

[Hrugner]

I'm a fan of casting control flames on held torches and filling the owner's square with fire.

[Cybren]

"Invisillusion" doesn't work, because the spell specifies it can create an illusion of an object, not an environmental effect or terrain feature. An object.

[Hrugner]

"Invisillusion" doesn't work, because the spell specifies it can create an illusion of an object, not an environmental effect or terrain feature. An object.

It's the old "picture in front of the security camera" trick used in tv and movies. It's an image of what people would see if the inivisilusionible thing wasn't there and could pass cursory inspection by the less observant.

[Renduaz]

"Invisillusion" doesn't work, because the spell specifies it can create an illusion of an object, not an environmental effect or terrain feature. An object.


"The image of an object" does not define what an object needs to be, it does not say it must be based on common objects or even known or existent object, thus leaving the best interpretation as creating the image of any object your character could imagine. And since the word "Object" in the English dictionary includes any sort material thing that can be seen, then yes, you can absolutely model your image of an object after the pattern of a floor or wall. Just think of the object in question as a thin material with a perfectly accurate painting of the pattern imposed on it. And then you make an illusion of the conceived object. In fact, even moreso than that, since the spell doesn't specify that the object needs to be existent ( Rather, imaginable ), then Minor Illusion could create any kind of pattern you can conceive of in your mind, even without already seeing the wall or floor in my example. I.E imagine an object which is a thin sheet of any kind of material showing any type of color or image, then project an image of that object from your imagination into the world.

[Cybren]

You're free to run things however you like in your games, but both implicit in how the spells are worded, with minor illusion specifying objects, while higher level spells specify being able to create terrain features or environmental effects, and explicit in that Crawford has outright stated you can't use minor illusion in this way, it would be an overly powerful houserule

[Quoxis]

But it's only if the DM allows you to use them in other campaigns though, right? According to the introduction to the Player's Companion. So it might not be universal.

It's official material from an official rulebook, an estimated 99.98% of all DMs would allow it, even AL shouldn't have problems with them afaik.

If a DM is puristic enough to not allow scag, ee (and volo), they're most likely not ok with the mentioned(ab)uses of cantrips anyway.

[rollingForInit]

"The image of an object" does not define what an object needs to be, it does not say it must be based on common objects or even known or existent object, thus leaving the best interpretation as creating the image of any object your character could imagine. And since the word "Object" in the English dictionary includes any sort material thing that can be seen, then yes, you can absolutely model your image of an object after the pattern of a floor or wall. Just think of the object in question as a thin material with a perfectly accurate painting of the pattern imposed on it. And then you make an illusion of the conceived object. In fact, even moreso than that, since the spell doesn't specify that the object needs to be existent ( Rather, imaginable ), then Minor Illusion could create any kind of pattern you can conceive of in your mind, even without already seeing the wall or floor in my example. I.E imagine an object which is a thin sheet of any kind of material showing any type of color or image, then project an image of that object from your imagination into the world.

Even if it were possible, it wouldn't make a person invisible. It'd be completely static, for one thing. It wouldn't interact with minor gusts of wind, dust flying around or any changes in light. It would also be an actual object sitting there. I'd probably allow it, simply because in 99% of all situations, it'd be much better to just create the illusion of an appropriate object (box, bush, rock) and hide inside that.

[Cybren]

It's official material from an official rulebook, an estimated 99.98% of all DMs would allow it, even AL shouldn't have problems with them afaik.

If a DM is puristic enough to not allow scag, ee (and volo), they're most likely not ok with the mentioned(ab)uses of cantrips anyway.

You can use EE or SCAG for your AL characters, not both

[Renduaz]

You're free to run things however you like in your games, but both implicit in how the spells are worded, with minor illusion specifying objects, while higher level spells specify being able to create terrain features or environmental effects, and explicit in that Crawford has outright stated you can't use minor illusion in this way, it would be an overly powerful houserule

I wouldn't necessarily allow one thing or another, just proving a semantic reading. I would be surprised if it wasn't allowed though, since there's actually an ongoing thread about the uses of Minor Illusion right now, and like half of the commenters mention using it in that manner. Also, the higher level spells have characteristics which go above and beyond my static flat image, in size and attributes, for example the Hallucinatory Terrain spell - "You make natural terrain in a 150-foot cube in range look, sound, and smell like some other sort of natural terrain.". It's both much larger and contains sound and smell, which is not covered by the tiny Minor Illusion. But if you have a clarification from Crawford then I'd be happy to take a look.


Even if it were possible, it wouldn't make a person invisible. It'd be completely static, for one thing. It wouldn't interact with minor gusts of wind, dust flying around or any changes in light. It would also be an actual object sitting there. I'd probably allow it, simply because in 99% of all situations, it'd be much better to just create the illusion of an appropriate object (box, bush, rock) and hide inside that.

Correct, it's only effective with the right angling, perspective and environment. It's mostly ideal for empty dungeon hallways or rooms, where a rock or something like that of a 5-foot size would arouse suspicion if the object wasn't there before, whereas if you need a quick place to hide in case you hear patrol footsteps for instance, then casting that illusion next to a wall might work as long as the enemy looks at it from one direction and from afar.

[rollingForInit]

I wouldn't necessarily allow one thing or another, just proving a semantic reading. I would be surprised if it wasn't allowed though, since there's actually an ongoing thread about the uses of Minor Illusion right now, and like half of the commenters mention using it in that manner. Also, the higher level spells have characteristics which go above and beyond my static flat image, in size and attributes, for example the Hallucinatory Terrain spell - "You make natural terrain in a 150-foot cube in range look, sound, and smell like some other sort of natural terrain.". It's both much larger and contains sound and smell, which is not covered by the tiny Minor Illusion. But if you have a clarification from Crawford then I'd be happy to take a look.



Correct, it's only effective with the right angling, perspective and environment. It's mostly ideal for empty dungeon hallways or rooms, where a rock or something like that of a 5-foot size would arouse suspicion if the object wasn't there before, whereas if you need a quick place to hide in case you hear patrol footsteps for instance, then casting that illusion next to a wall might work as long as the enemy looks at it from one direction and from afar.

I would probably allow that to work, but depending on how attentive the guards are, I might still allow them to roll Perception (or use their passive) to see if they notice anything that's off. Or maybe have the player roll stealth. Something, anyway. Instead of being spotted outright. I think that's a fair use of a cantrip. In that kind of perfect scenario.

Whereas with Invisibility you'd just be outright unseen.

[Asmotherion]

I meant an identical image of the background, yes. It also might be logical to suggest you won't get it perfectly, but there's honestly nothing that says otherwise. The spell description is that you can make any image. I guess a check can be in order if you want to.




Awesome, although I should add that you probably wouldn't make much of a friend by feeding a beast a rock, since only the smell and taste would be changed, not the other properties like the texture. If the beast even swallows in the first place after biting into hard rock, it might actually even be more effective for the purpose of dispatching the beast. Also, I keep feeling there should be some game-breaking godlike powers for the firebolt cantrip outside of combat, being essentially able to hurl infinite motes of fire and generate unlimited energy in the span of seconds. Even moreso with other casters. Perhaps with some magical items.

The implication was that you'd substitute the rock with bread or something edible if you're going for the friendly approach :P It's a protest for stoping animal cruelty in fictional Worlds. U_U I am proud to never have activelly hurt a single beast in 5e unless it was summoned by an enemy Druid or something (which would be a fay spirit and not an actual beast) or was the Druid in question. Animals are our friends :D

Now, some more tricks:

Mage Hand Distraction: Yes, I know this is the Arcane Trickster's bread and butter, but nobody directly says you can't use it too. The opponent should have a save (as opposed to the AT's ability), but if you give the hand a dagger to hold, and direct it to the opponent, the opponent has no way of knowing it can't attack him... Even if he does, Instincts of self preservation would make him worry seeing a magical hand wielding a dagger in front of his face, and it's probably enough to distract him for advantage on your next attack roll. Or poke him with it from behind his back. Just because it causes no Damage, doesn't mean it does not hurt, even if a little... it's a pointy item after all. Well, in general nothing directly says it can't use the help action. Or have it grab some dirt/sand and float above the opponent's head. Then, drop it. Blind condition (with a save).

Mage hand of Doom. Do you find Delayed Blast Fireball too risky and unpredictable? No problem. Just give it to the Mage hand to grab, and float above reach till it charges. Then, have it drop it, and ignite, as soon as it's charged enough. Even if something happens and it ignites prematurelly, you are 30 feet away, and out of it's range.

Mage Hand Pedestral. Do you have a Fammiliar that Can't fly? Do you wish it could? Well, just have it stand on the Mage hand. Most fammiliars weight less than 10 pounds and are small enough to fit. This way, you can stop taking only Flying Familiars for their mobility and Tactical Advaantage, and take the one you really prefear (if it cannot fly otherwise).

[Level2intern]

The caster makes a stealth (int) vs the guards perception to hide behind a flat wall illusion via minor illusion. Int instead of Dex to account for the subtleties needed to get the perspective correct.

[Klorox]

I love this thread.

[BoxANT]

Shape Water:
-Use it to carry large amounts of water on your person (useful in survival situations; ie. underdark). Just freeze it into chunks and wrap it in a cloth/blanket/backpack.
-Check for invisible: 1) color the water (ie. red) and make it into a 5x5 sheet, and move it around, if something is invisible it will show up by distorting the water sheet. (found a chest that way once)
-Make a ladder 5 feet at a time: shape water into the form of small ledges, and freeze them to the side of a wall, climb 5 ft, then make 5 ft more and repeat. Remember you can have two "freeze" actions going (10 ft), enough for just you to climb.
-Combine with a heat source (prestidigitation) for a hot shower/bath.
-Take your pet gold fish with you wherever you go in a floating ball of water.
-Float: Someone with a bad athletics skill fall into water? Create a 5x5x5' block of ice below them, and let physics do the rest.
-10 ft ice bridge
-10 ft ice stairs
-One man boat: Make the aforementioned 5x5x5 cube in water, and use Shape Water to "change the flow" of the water behind the cube to move the cube. Only peasants swim.
-Ice Prison: Have a prisoner? shape water all over him (not the face) and freeze it, instantish ice restraints.
-Super Sled: Have a spare shield? Cover the front of it with water then freeze it, make sure to wear your ice helmet for safety.

I like Shape Water.

[MasterMatt999]

Shape Water-
Humans are 70% water. Shape Water allows you to freeze water. Insta-kill.

[KorvinStarmast]

Shape Water-
Humans are 70% water. Shape Water allows you to freeze water. Insta-kill.
Nope.

Shape Water
Transmutation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: S
Duration: Instantaneous or 1 hour (see below)
You choose an area of water that you can see within range and that fits within a 5-foot cube. You manipulate
it in one of the following ways:
• You instantaneously move or otherwise change the flow of the water as you direct, up to 5 feet in any direction. This movement doesn’t have enough force to cause damage.
• You cause the water to form into simple shapes and animate at your direction. This change lasts for 1 hour.
• You change the water’s color or opacity. The water must be changed in the same way throughout. This change lasts for 1 hour.
• You freeze the water, provided that there are no creatures in it. The water unfreezes in 1 hour.

If you cast this spell multiple times, you can have no more than two of its non-instantaneous effects active at
a time, and you can dismiss such an effect as an action. You can't see that 'water' inside the humanoid.

It is also in Xanathar's Guide to Everything.

[jdizzlean]

The Mod Life Crisis: There is no cantrip to overcome thread necromancy.