Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sylvaroth 07-12-05, 04:07 PM	Cantrips and orisons are often overlooked by PCs and DMs alike, not realizing that these supposedly minor spells can be a great source of background for a character or campaign. These simple spells represent the first steps the spellcaster took along his chosen profession, and what they lack in power, they make up for in versatility. In a world where magic works, cantrips and orisons should be a common sight, used by spellcasters to make their everyday life easier. Those minor incantations are the work of apprentices, possibly a sort of "final exam" before being allowed to progress to more powerful spells. So to all you spellcasters out there, whether arcane or divine, how do you use those little 0-level magical gimmics? Do your PCs use e.g. trademark cantrips, have they killed the tarrasque with a clever applied orison or did even a whole adventuring group strike out to find the ancient 0-level spell of a powerful mage, in the course setting into motion a whole campaign? Post here your most interesting stories and uses of cantrips and orisons for the entertainment and merriment of everybody.
smrtgmp 07-12-05, 04:16 PM	I use prestidigitation constatly. How I use it depends on the character I'm playing, but its easily one of my favorite spells.
Sylvaroth 07-12-05, 04:21 PM	Hey smrtgmp, nice to see you here. Could you maybe like give us some of the multifarious uses your PCs have for prestidigitation? How are you anyways?
smrtgmp 07-12-05, 04:35 PM	I'm ok (all things concidered). Where else have you seen me? I generally lurk on these boards. As for how I use prestigitation... My gnome artificer made himself a "gem of wondrous delight" (item of prestidigitation) which he used constantly in his pranks. The tank of the group (who he called "Mule") was the brunt of most of the crap he pulled. Changing the flavor of food and drink are fun. Nothing like your favorite meal tasting like zombie nuggets and orc sweat to brighten up your day. I made red spots appear on his face when he would try and pick up women in bars. Or making it look like he soiled his pants. Or have colorful, fragant smoke eminate from his rear. Stuff like that. Basically anything a 5 year old would do if they could cast the spell. He also used it to start a lot of fires, and as a result never had more than one eyebrow at a time. My frost mage is far more conservative with his use of the spell. He uses it to make all his food and drink cold, clean his gear, etc. Its the little things you can do with this spell that make it really cool, IMO. Most of the magic tricks I wish I could do in real life can be duplicated by prestidigitation. It doesnt have a lot of mechanical benefits, but it can be one of the best role playing tools in the game. Good stuff.
homey188 07-12-05, 05:17 PM	i have to use alot of cantrips with my character(small town laws, no spells 1st level or higher)so ive learned to throw lighted rocks down holes cure minor wounds is good stabilizer without wasting higher spell slots
Ossyrian Ush'Bel 07-12-05, 05:35 PM	Flare is a good way to get the attention of a rowdy tavern when the bard is getting ready to play. And for only a small cut of the proceeds the wizard is happy to provide this service.
tennesseefats 07-12-05, 06:01 PM	Ghost Sounds and Dancing Lights are great for distracting guards/enemies/etc. Disrupt Undead is extremely useful for low-level characters (good HD for a 0-Level spell)... as is Resistance (when any saving throw bonus helps) Flare and Daze can be used in a variety of urban settings, as well as combat. Mending can enhance the value of items you wish to sell. Detect Magic speaks for itself and prestigitation has so many uses . ...and my favorite: Mage Hand. Ever tried to lasso a raging bull? Not too hard when the mage hand carries the rope and puts the noose on its neck. Ever needed to drop alchemist fire w/o an attack? Get the hand to carry it. Have to place that gem in the evil-looking skull altar? Etc. I really like the cantrips, and yes, so many people take x number of slots of Detect Magic and no other spell because cantrips don't do 10d20 dmg. Sad really.
aus_autarch 07-12-05, 07:03 PM	Daze is a spectacular combat spell; particularly versus the BBEG at early levels. It certainly should be on any Ftr/Sor list of known spells. It's even worth extending (via extend spell metafeat) to make a first level spell. Do you remember the first time your first level party faced up to the 1/2orc bar 2 with a great axe and a bad attitude? I do - He died without hurting anyone, with a :confused: on his face. 2 rounds of the fighter, cleric and rogue all taking free hits will do that to you. The look on the DM's face was priceless :eek: I think he had planned for at least one PC death. Ausautarch
Rhadamanthus 07-12-05, 07:10 PM	Mage Hand is infinitely useful. One time, a 1st-level bard I was playing took out two sewer rats with one casting. He picked up one rat and flung it into the other one. It's also been used to grab keys, chuck rocks, and invoke uncontrollable pain in a war hulk ogre during one epic adventure (don't ask). Never overlook cantrips. Especially at lower levels, where there aren't too many other options. In my experience Detect Magic has saved me and my party numerous times. Spells, of any level, have great potency.
Arkonth 07-12-05, 11:11 PM	No one's mentioned it but my party ahs done amazing things with Create Water. Of course one of these things was nearly killing ourselves in an enclosed water-tight electrically charged room, but there you go.
Loki5654 07-13-05, 12:19 AM	Ever since I read the mini-chapter in the Tome and Blood about all the various uses of the Prestidigitation cantrip, it became my favorite spell of all time. I played a smug,elitist Elven wizard who used prestidigitation to improve the taste of his food, chill his wine, etc. Love it, love it, love it.
ydirbut 07-13-05, 03:10 AM	prestdigitation is probably overpowered if you think about it.
Koda77 07-13-05, 04:41 AM	how so? it has no emchanical effect what so ever and is prolly the most rp based spell in existance
buggritall 07-13-05, 05:29 AM	Prestidigitation rocks. As smrtgmp suggested, changing food flavours is fun, although I simply made champagne taste like urine. Mage Hand has many uses too, of course. Nothing like pinching th barmaid as she walks by the rogue.
Purkake 07-13-05, 06:42 AM	What kind of knowlage check would it be to know how urin tastes like? :P I have to agree that prestidigitation is the cool rp do-it-all spell and most cantrips are pretty useful to have around.
Sylvaroth 07-13-05, 07:26 AM	Ok so far mage hand and pretidigitation seem to be the most popular 0-level spells. For further reference I post their SRD entries here: Mage Hand Transmutation Level: Brd 0, Sor/Wiz 0 Components: V, S Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Target: One nonmagical, unattended object weighing up to 5 lb. Duration: Concentration Saving Throw: None Spell Resistance: No You point your finger at an object and can lift it and move it at will from a distance. As a move action, you can propel the object as far as 15 feet in any direction, though the spell ends if the distance between you and the object ever exceeds the spell’s range. Prestidigitation Universal Level: Brd 0, Sor/Wiz 0 Components: V, S Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: 10 ft. Target, Effect, or Area: See text Duration: 1 hour Saving Throw: See text Spell Resistance: No Prestidigitations are minor tricks that novice spellcasters use for practice. Once cast, a prestidigitation spell enables you to perform simple magical effects for 1 hour. The effects are minor and have severe limitations. A prestidigitation can slowly lift 1 pound of material. It can color, clean, or soil items in a 1-foot cube each round. It can chill, warm, or flavor 1 pound of nonliving material. It cannot deal damage or affect the concentration of spellcasters. Prestidigitation can create small objects, but they look crude and artificial. The materials created by a prestidigitation spell are extremely fragile, and they cannot be used as tools, weapons, or spell components. Finally, a prestidigitation lacks the power to duplicate any other spell effects. Any actual change to an object (beyond just moving, cleaning, or soiling it) persists only 1 hour.
Sylvaroth 07-13-05, 09:25 AM	I do not think any of the 0-ls (cantrips, orisons) are really that overpowered. Just remember what the expert Sedemichra of Esucarys said: "give me a lever and a place to stand, and I will move the world." and with 0-ls as a lever you can do just that :D Rhadamanthus you surely saw that coming. How did you invoke uncontrollable pain in a war hulk ogre during one epic adventure? :P Arkonth since this thread is dedicated to the creative and unusual uses of 0-ls I would really love to hear more create water-stories. Loki5654 would you mind giving us some of the most creative and original examples for the use of prestidigitation? According to above definition, could a spellcaster really pinch with mage hand? If so what else non-rules-mechanical, harmful effects could you achieve with the power to "move" any object of 5 lb. What about pinching, pushing or poking other even more harmful portions on the anatomy of the spell's victim? I have a certain picture in mind and maybe one of you could tell me how a spellcaster could be able to do this, 0-ls preferred. (note: I did not say if, because in D&D everything is possible one way or another). Just imagine a door without handle or keyhole, which is sunk a little in the surrounding wall in which it is fit in jointlessly. The bolt which locks the door is walled in and can only be unbolted by a force that activates the mechanism from within the wall (like a mage hand without line of sight).
Sylvaroth 07-14-05, 05:01 AM	http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v213/Farzul/dice.bmp HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me! As you can see my luck in dice rolls is not that good, so my annual Age throw resulted in a 24 today, yay!
Need_A_Life 07-14-05, 07:19 AM	congrats! Rhadamanthus you surely saw that coming. How did you invoke uncontrollable pain in a war hulk ogre during one epic adventure? I think its called pull... I assume its a male ogre of course... Get constant water breathing and then Create Water can get you TONS of XP, fill an entire dungeon with water, then cast some sort of lightning spell... sell the corpses with BBQ sauce... Arcane Mark: "Kick me!" on the annoying guards but. Detect Poison, works great for those of you who has assassin enemies and eat out. Virtue: Go from dying to disabled (-1 to 0) even while you're out of Cure Minor Wounds. Summon Instrument (bard only): That's just cool! Why buy one when a cantrip can get you one, saves you money and allows for perform checks and bardic music. Lullaby: what is cooler than singing a goodnight song for the people you're fighting.
Loki5654 07-14-05, 07:20 AM	Loki5654 would you mind giving us some of the most creative and original examples for the use of prestidigitation? There are 3 examples that I can think of off the top of my head: 1. Ordering White wine in an Inn and using Pres. to chill it to a more servable temperature. Not really all that special, but when you are sharing the wine with your hope-to-be Mentor, the little touches help. 2. Fighting a group of Hobgoblins who had strategically strewn caltrops about the room in order to hinder the movement of our combat-types. Using pres., my character was able to sweep squares clear in very short order without provoking AoO. 3. Another character asked my elven mage (an intelligence junkie) about "the planes" so I used a pres. spell to draw simple diagrams in the air while giving the equivalent of a doctoral dissertation on the subject.
Koretsu 07-23-05, 09:49 PM	I once saw someone use Mage Hand to kill a Large Fire Elemental with fall damage. :D
Ad Infinitum 07-24-05, 02:10 AM	Mage hand is great in a barfight. Ready an action, and throw a chair in front of anyone that tries to charge. Upend a serving tray, and watch those glass steins become impromptu caltrops. And, of course, there's always throwing a candle onto vast quantities of spilled alchoholic beverages...
Starmage21 07-24-05, 02:31 AM	Har Har once, when our party was facing a trio of BBEG's I made a melee attack with my mace (cleric)against a female armored knight and discharged a cause critical wounds (spell storing). Then, with a hasted action (3.0) I casted Create Water, dictating her armor as the container!!!!
wi1dfire_b1ue 07-24-05, 03:34 AM	You know those spell-like ability feats in CA? During a one shot advnture, my rogue had one that had Acid splash as a spell-like ability. The way I played it, 1/day she could spit acid as a first level spellcaster, that did 1d3 acid damage, plus 3d6 sneak attack damage. That poor lackey guarding her didn't stand a chance.
EvilDuck 07-24-05, 03:45 AM	Yes, acid splash is great for the SAing rogue. And Horizikaul's Cough is a no-save damage spell that does 1 sonic damage. Then you fell drain it, fell weaken it, chain it, and turn it into an SLA. :D
journeyman777 07-24-05, 04:44 AM	And Horizikaul's Cough is a no-save damage spell that does 1 sonic damage.Can you post that one? I haven't heard of it before.
EvilDuck 07-24-05, 02:41 PM	Can you post that one? I haven't heard of it before. It's not SRD, and I don't want my ass sued, but I will tell you that it's in Magic of Faerun.
Zorminster 07-24-05, 03:15 PM	I killed some super-nasty thing in one campaign using ghost sounds. I can't recall what the thing was so let me quickly describe it- It was in a suit of armor, the only thing of real note was the helmet had latches onto the armor which even when unbuckled made the helmet really hard to remove. You could smash the armor and rip it apart, but a luminescent blue liquid looking appendage connected it all, and would draw it back together- good as new. The things were incredibly stupid and unwise apparently, but deadly strong. I popped off a ghost sounds centered on the inside of one of the things helmets, rolled a 20, and the DM rolled a 1 for the save- he decided that the enemy couldn't figure out where the sounds were and as they were agonising, he reached up and tried to crush the sound....along with itself since it resided in the helmet. Go go cantrips!
ShadowWarrior 07-25-05, 02:47 PM	Prestidigitation rocks. As smrtgmp suggested, changing food flavours is fun, although I simply made champagne taste like urine. Somehow, I think that would be an improvement.
EvilDuck 07-25-05, 03:47 PM	Somehow, I think that would be an improvement. Whoa! I'd like to use ghost sounds on my brain, please!
Sylvaroth 07-25-05, 04:50 PM	Would it really be possible to cast ghost sound to work inside of a helmet (or EvilDucks brain :D )? Those locations do not really have line of sight, right?
Radijs 07-25-05, 05:21 PM	Through the vision slits maybe?
Sylvaroth 07-25-05, 05:38 PM	Through the openings of a helmet? Like in: Hallo? Anybody in there? *knock* *knock* *knock* casts ghost sound :D
Sylvaroth 04-03-06, 12:20 PM	bumpety :bump: