Questions about Minor Conjuration

[Yakmala]

So, we have a player thinking about making a Conjuration Wizard for an upcoming game and honestly, we've never had someone play this subclass before in our group, nor have I run into one at a convention.

So, I wanted to discuss the topic of what is or isn't allowed with Minor Conjuration. I'm interested both in what you think RAW allows and what you personally allow at your table.

By the PHB, including errata, an object created via Minor Conjuration is:


No larger than 3 feet per side.
No heavier than 10 pounds.
Form of a non-magical object you have seen.
Object vanishes if it take or deals any damage.



So, now the questions...

1: How complex can the object be? Can the object have multiple parts? A dagger can be a blade, guard and pommel. A hand crossbow has many parts. A pocket watch can have hundreds of parts.

2: Do you allow liquids, as long as they are no more than a 3x3 cubic foot portion and no more than 10 pounds? Do you set any limitations? Could you use Minor Conjuration to make the blood of any creature you have seen the blood of? How about acids and poisons?

3: Is a vial of acid two things? A vial and the acid? By the same standard, how about a rope with a grappling hook attached? How about a quiver with arrows in it? How about a handful of sand? Is each particle an object? How about a book with writing and illustrations?

4: Does the object you create have value for the purposes of spell components? Let's say a spell requires a 1,000 GP diamond. And let's say our Conjurer has seen a 1,000 GP diamond before. If the Conjurer creates such a diamond, can it be used to cast a spell?

5: Do you allow an object that is larger than 3'x3' if, when compacted, it fits into a 3'x3' cube? Example, you could easily compress 50' of silk robe into a 3'x3' cube.

6: Since a conjured object vanishes if it does damage, does that rule out any tool that is used to shape other materials? A saw that cuts a log is damaging the wood. A pair of tailors shears is damaging a bolt of cloth.

7: The rules say an object must have been seen to be created, but some objects require knowledge, or a really good memory. Examples, re-creating the key to your jail cell that you saw on the guard's belt, or re-creating every detail of a map that you saw on a general's desk. Poison would be another example. Just because I see poison, doesn't mean I know the chemical components. I just saw a vial of colorful liquid. Does Minor Conjuration simply allow a flawless duplicate, or do you require the Conjurer to make an Intelligence roll or have specialized skills to make certain objects?

I'm sure I'm missing a few points of discussion, so feel free to add your own. I'm trying to get a sense of what is officially allowed and what you believe a reasonable DM should allow.

[Chronos]

Personally, I'd allow most of these, except for the expensive spell components and maybe the liquid/sand. And I'd prefer to ignore the erratum that says it disappears if it deals damage, because giving your fighter buddy a magical axe should be a perfectly valid use of the spell.

But yeah, there is a lot of room for interpretation, which may be why folks seem to put such a low value on the feature. With the most permissive interpretations, it's practically enough to make an entire class out of.

[Porcupinata]

So, we have a player thinking about making a Conjuration Wizard for an upcoming game and honestly, we've never had someone play this subclass before in our group, nor have I run into one at a convention.

So, I wanted to discuss the topic of what is or isn't allowed with Minor Conjuration. I'm interested both in what you think RAW allows and what you personally allow at your table.

By the PHB, including errata, an object created via Minor Conjuration is:


No larger than 3 feet per side.
No heavier than 10 pounds.
Form of a non-magical object you have seen.
Object vanishes if it take or deals any damage.



So, now the questions...

Most of this is "ask your DM" category. So here are the answers I would give (going with the spirit of the rules as I understand them) if I was your DM...


1: How complex can the object be? Can the object have multiple parts? A dagger can be a blade, guard and pommel. A hand crossbow has many parts. A pocket watch can have hundreds of parts.

Sure, you can create a complex object if it fits the other requirements.


2: Do you allow liquids, as long as they are no more than a 3x3 cubic foot portion and no more than 10 pounds? Do you set any limitations? Could you use Minor Conjuration to make the blood of any creature you have seen the blood of? How about acids and poisons?

No, liquids aren't objects.


3: Is a vial of acid two things? A vial and the acid? By the same standard, how about a rope with a grappling hook attached? How about a quiver with arrows in it? How about a handful of sand? Is each particle an object? How about a book with writing and illustrations?

If a liquid is part of an object, that's fine. For example you could create a fake orange and squeeze some fake orange juice out of it. But if something is just a container with liquid inside then the liquid isn't part of the object and it just seems to be trying to rules-lawyer around "liquid isn't an object". You can create the container, but not fill it with an arbitrary liquid.


4: Does the object you create have value for the purposes of spell components? Let's say a spell requires a 1,000 GP diamond. And let's say our Conjurer has seen a 1,000 GP diamond before. If the Conjurer creates such a diamond, can it be used to cast a spell?

No, because it's not a real (in this case) diamond so it doesn't have whatever "essential quality" that spells require from a real diamond.


5: Do you allow an object that is larger than 3'x3' if, when compacted, it fits into a 3'x3' cube? Example, you could easily compress 50' of silk robe into a 3'x3' cube.

Yes, a rope or something that fits into the area is fine.


6: Since a conjured object vanishes if it does damage, does that rule out any tool that is used to shape other materials? A saw that cuts a log is damaging the wood. A pair of tailors shears is damaging a bolt of cloth.

I'd be fine with a saw or a pair of shears, but if you tried to stab someone with the shears or cut someone's leg off with the saw they'd disappear. I specifically interpret this as the object vanishing as it's about to do damage, rather than after it has caused damage - so you don't get to actually do the damage with the object (with the latter interpretation you could always do damage once before it disappears).


7: The rules say an object must have been seen to be created, but some objects require knowledge, or a really good memory. Examples, re-creating the key to your jail cell that you saw on the guard's belt, or re-creating every detail of a map that you saw on a general's desk. Poison would be another example. Just because I see poison, doesn't mean I know the chemical components. I just saw a vial of colorful liquid. Does Minor Conjuration simply allow a flawless duplicate, or do you require the Conjurer to make an Intelligence roll or have specialized skills to make certain objects?

You could create a key or a map, but it would only be as accurate to the original as your memory allows it to. If it mattered, I'd let you make an Int check to see how good that memory actually is. You don't need to know chemical composition of things (in my games "chemical composition" doesn't exist - things are made of a mix of elemental air, earth, fire, and water; not chemical elements).

All the above are subjective, and are merely how I run it. I believe that they match the intended spirit of the rules, though, in that the spirit of the spell is to be able to produce a useful object or tool, not to be able to bypass the requirement for spell components or to produce inherehtly dangerous substances to bypass the rule against causing damage.

[Segev]

It is also worth reveal bering that Prestidigitation can make trinkets. So this should be better than that. It is, by size alone, but whether that is enough is a matter for discussion.

[Chronos]

You could create a key or a map, but it would only be as accurate to the original as your memory allows it to.
By the strict RAW, I don't think you're even allowed to make an imperfect copy. It's a copy of an object you've seen, and so if you haven't seen a key with that particular precise tooth pattern, you can't make that precise pattern.

Oh, and there are also some (almost certainly allowed) tricks that you can pull, based on being able to un-make the object. When you make a new object, the old one vanishes, no matter how far away, but until you do that (or it deals or takes damage), it lasts indefinitely. So you can communicate a signal at a great distance, something like "attack the far side of the castle when this paper disappears". Or make a remote trigger: Make something like a table or shelf, put a bunch of (real) vials of alchemist's fire underneath it, and set a (real) heavy rock on top of the table, then get far away and poof the table. Or tie a real portcullis up with conjured rope, so you can make it fall from a distance, or the like.

[XmonkTad]

Minor Conjuration is really the only thing I know that truly benefits from Keen Mind's perfect recall feature. Depending on your DM, that may well be a feat tax for things like duplicating keys or a poison or some such.

[Bobthewizard]

I'd allow all of these except the valuable spell component. Of course, any of the things that cause damage disappear right when they cause damage.

I'd even allow a specific map or key if the caster had seen it before. It's not illusion where you are creating the contents of the map from memory. This is conjuration, so the wizard is conjuring up the exact map or key. I don't think a detailed memory or keen mind is required, but I wouldn't complain if my DM said it did.