Underrated But AMAZING Cantrips

[@DnDShorts]

Yo, grab the BOOK OF EXTINCTION right here! deadmonstermanual.com

[@andreashesseerichsen438]

First

[@donkmeme4740]

So fun fact, Jeff Goldbloom loves it when his fans call him daddy or Zaddy. Just information for your future content. 👍

[@the1tigglet]

You're still sexy af with your manly beard and that smattering of chest hair peaking out of your shirt! WOOF!

[@THEPSYCHOZOMBIEXD]

How can i reach you when i have problems with your merch store?

[@LucanVaris]

Sadly, the DMs I play with IRL tend to rule that Dunamancy spells can only be picked up by Chronurgy and/or Graviturgy Wizards. Not even _Bards_ can grab Sapping Sting. Otherwise, I'd use the hell out of such a powerful cantrip, as it sounds like quite a lot of fun.

[@marandabreinholt458]

My players used bonfire on a wererat they couldn't hit because their weapons were not magical and just stood in a circle shoving it back in when he tried to run. It was brutal, but creative, I'll never forget it.

[@ClericOfPholtus]

So glad to hear someone else uses bonfire for combat purposes Always loved that spell lol

[@nathanpfirman625]

New idea: Use wall of force of if it’s a big boss make a prismatic wall around the boss trapping them. And inside that have a bonfire in it and slowly cook them to eat later.

[@nathanpfirman625]

New idea: Use wall of force of if it’s a big boss make a prismatic wall around the boss trapping them. And inside that have a bonfire in it and slowly cook them to eat later.

[@The_Hylian_Likely]

​@@nathanpfirman625 Force Cage and Sickening Radiance already does the microwave. But Wall of Force and Bonfire could be a lower level alternative.

[@queenismyfavoriteband9904]

reminds me of the time the party i was in got attacked by a high level eldritch wizard type of dude so we all grappled him and started moving in opposite directions to brutally tear him apart someone else came in with a greatsword and just cut him in half lmao

[@nexobuilder0967]

"Just get some orphans to throw stones, who's going to complain if they die? Their parents?" This just made my day thank you.

[@coreycoffell6219]

Said no lawfully good npc ever...lol

[@AliawooYT]

That hit me like a formula 1 car, holy sh-

[@TallDarknCreepy]

My DM gave me a fair bit of leeway and allowed me too cast Shape Water to create an ice sword, then - because the object was “natural” - he let me cast Shillelagh on it for a fun, iconic magic weapon. Eventually I was able to bless it and make it holy water, allowing the sword to deal extra damage to the undead and fiends. Edit: You guys make some great comments and I'm glad if I was able to inspire y'all. For my part, if I knew I was going to go for this from the beginning of my career, I probably would have started as Paladin or Bard for extra attack. But all it takes is 3 levels of Warlock to get this online, and THEN you can dual wield it with Shadow Blade. That, I think, is an iconic look.

[@gjsncr]

Cool DM.

[@InfernalBanana]

That’s brilliant

[@Bob-lr2xp]

Bro, Shape Water is BROKEN. The amount of things you can do with the ability to freeze, thaw, and shape water id ridiculous. Lock-picking is unnecessary when you can just freeze the lock and shatter it with a melee weapon. In fact, you can break almost any machine if you freeze it in the right spot. Expanding ice is hell on non-magical objects.

[@Jay-pj5tg]

THIS IS SO COOL and It isn't broken because you have to remake it if it melts or is broken and you're still using a ba to cast shillelagh

[@Asstronema]

How did you calculate the extra damage for blessing it???

[@Sapphire-Lily]

Don't forget that Earth Genasi start with Blade Ward and can even use it as a bonus action (for a number of times equal to their proficiency bonus)

[@MesoJoe]

Earth genasi bladesinger would be pretty great, lets you attack *and* defend with cantrips in the same turn at 6th level proficiency times per long rest.

[@BrandonPatrk317]

That's the business right there.

[@Kewlausgirl]

Omg so you could have you attack, a cantrip and THEN you could use blade ward!? Nice!! Question though: with the bladesinger part... Couldn't they use firebolt or something and then have blade ward from their earth genasi part? Or does it have to be a cantrip to do with a blade? I don't know much about the bladesinger. Sounds fun though!! Once I finish the Descent into Avernus campaign with my friends, I might try bladesinger!! I also had the fun idea of being a harengon inquisitive Rogue or whatever it's called, maybe 1 or 2 levels in sorcerer for cantrips. The hare-like creature was going to say "sorry" every time it kicked with it's feet... Or stole something (and was seen) and just be one of those annoyingly pleasant but tricky/trickster type characters. Was thinking of the rabbit from Alice in wonderland crossed with Judy from Zootopia 😂😊

[@DnDShorts]

@@MesoJoe I smell a KZbin short there! The Cantrip Tank!

[@sethnowack6667]

😂❤​@@MesoJoe❤4r5t5🎉🎉🎉I 😅❤😂❤❤❤😂😂❤😂😅😂😂😂❤😂❤❤❤❤❤❤😂

[@bladesandswords6136]

0:06 Sapping Sting 2:10 Magic Stone 5:19 Shape Water 7:10 Friends 9:12 Honorable Mention 10:00 Blade Ward

[@LexyLexer]

Cheers

[@xaviersanchez4965]

Thank you!

[@porkchop4401]

You forgot 4:15 Panties drop

[@JustinReeves]

Sapping Sting is Dunamancy from Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, a class of spells which are not by default as freely available. Which means your ability to add it to your Wizard's spell list or Magic Initiate if they're not a Chronurgy or Graviturgy Wizard requires DM approval/Plot related reasons.

[@Fetch26291]

And if you are using D&DB, it's just outright not possible. It won't even show up as an option. Though, if you make a Choronurgy or Geaviturgy Wizard, learn the Sapping Sting cantrip, and then change your Wizard school, it will still be on your list of cantrips. But if you remove it after that, you can't relearn it. That is the way you can add it to your spells on DDB. Just be sure to get your DM's approval to use this 'cheat'.

[@DanielCooper1]

Well.... Shit.

[@ggfrt96]

correct, and came here to say it. it's a good spell but underused because it's not available

[@JM-nf6pk]

Spell slingers or ranged attacks from more than 5ft away have disadvantage on a target that is prone. I'm kinda surprised the author of this vid didn't do a little more research into the condition "prone". You can actually seriously screw any ranged party members with this spell

[@LazerBear42]

Outside of the Exandria setting, it's just a regular necromancy spell.

[@GamerTreeProductions]

One of my favorite builds is a swarmkeeper ranger who’s swarm is a cloud of floating rocks. They use magic stone and a sling to attack, using their wisdom to make ranged weapon attacks that can benefit from the archery fighting style and sharpshooter.

[@RositaDepre]

I read this idea in Rpgbot, did you also get it from there?

[@GamerTreeProductions]

@@RositaDepreI saw the idea for rocks there, but I originally learned about the sharpshooter magic stone interaction from d4. My original concept was using leaves as my swarm and my DM let me use acorns instead of stones

[@strawhatoverlord9184]

I think you calculated weight for 5 cubic feet (which btw is actually 311 lbs), but that's not what Shape Water says. It says a 5-foot cube, which is 125 cubic feet, which would weigh about 7800 lbs or nearly 4 tons.

[@joehall1945]

beat me to saying it by 6 hours good job...

[@jediknight1294]

S amazing especially given the range. Bei g able to drop that on people from a height If yiu area flyi g creature it's horrify 4T dropped from 5ft would be brutal.

[@Feanor6450]

But a bag of holding can't hold more than 500 pounds. So you either need to be near a river or damn or carry about 16 bags of holding to be able to have all that water available.

[@Sid_Shady]

@@Feanor6450 Watery Sphere, 4th level Wizard spell. You can summon and move a sphere of water that can hover 10 ft off the ground. That's eight 5X5 cubes.

[@Feanor6450]

@@Sid_Shady yeah but that's a level 4 spell, you can't have it going constantly.

[@arcticbanana66]

A funny thing about Create Bonfire is, if your DM is a strict stickler for Rules As Written, the bonfire you conjure doesn't create any light. This happened recently in High Rollers, where DM Mark Hulmes pointed out that it doesn't say anywhere in the spell description that the spell generates light, unlike other spells like Continual Flame, Fire Shield, and Produce Flame. Obviously this would be kind of a dumb ruling, but it's there.

[@ImpaleTheLiving]

Having done extensive research on my own regarding this exact point, basically the conclusion is that the spell is a magically fueled "natural bonfire." So aside from the fact that it is created and sustained by magic it is not in and of itself a magical fire and therefore follows the rules of natural fire as described in the DMG. So it would produce the same amount of light as a natural bonfire would, but the reason that the spell does not have a specifically defined light radius for it is because, aside from light producing items that your player can add to their inventory and therefore need to be specified, "natural light" in the game is left up to the DM to define. Otherwise WOTC would have to specifically define the radius of light for every campfire, fireplace, chandelier, wall sconce, glow worm, burning church, the sun, the moon.. you get the idea. Trying to document the exact radius for everything that produces ambient light in the world would be tedious to the point of impossibility. So they don't and leave it up to the DM where relevant. TLDR: It does produce light but how much is up to your DM.

[@justnoob8141]

clearly, that DM didn’t read the line “Specific beat General”

[@renard2195]

I like to think that it doesn't produce light because, since it can be sustain anywhere, it's actually burning hydrogen... hydrogen fire is scary since it doesn't burn ont the visible spectrum of light, only in infrared, aka heat.

[@ImpaleTheLiving]

@@renard2195 First off, thanks for the science lesson that's a super cool fact. 👍🏽Second, that's a totally valid argument, and you are one hundred percent within your rights to view it that way, but thirdly, I would personally argue it can't be that because the fire IS in fact visible (can be seen and avoided) and otherwise acts and behaves like a regular bonfire.

[@renard2195]

@@ImpaleTheLiving I do have to say that I didn't double-check the description of the spell when I wrote that down, I only based it off the short of Aerois (though I'm really not there yet with the vod-squad). And I sure agreed that the fire is visible, that is how, it as always being used where I've played. But now that I read the spell, it only mentionned that the ground in space must be seen. Yes, it ingnite any objects in that space, but if there is no object, nor creatures there, it doesn't said that is visible, contraryly to Produce Flame, which it does. Also, if it acts like a bonfire, does the internet imagines this spell coming with a little pyre of phantasmal logs underneat?

[@B.J.Camire]

As a long time fan of Friends (the T.V. show), the sheer number of printed merch whose connection to the show is the driving force behind them making any money (books, trivia games, t-shirts, mugs, etc.) that get the color order of the dots wrong and infuriate me for very little reason is astounding. The fact that you pulled the Friends logo with the correct order (red, blue, yellow, red, yellow, blue) for a throwaway gag to be on screen for less than a second makes me love you even more than I already do. Thank you for this!

[@justine6116]

Holy smokes, I never thought of the friends/disguise combo to piss off someone against someone else... And I am playing currently the perfect character to pull that off... Oooooh, this is going to be fun chaos! thank you so much!!

[@TheRawrnstuff]

Be sure to confirm it works with your DM. RAW, the spell defines - as the effect of the spell - that the target becomes hostile towards *you,* not hostile towards whomever _they think_ casted the spell.

[@adamkaleo4062]

@@TheRawrnstuff yes as RAW suggests but disguise yourself before casting friends how the non hostile NPC gonna know its you rather than the person ur disguising?

[@justine6116]

Well, one way to find out ^^ I was not planning on doing against any bbeg though. But we are infiltrating a bal next session where there is an attack planned, and we are going to have to search through the mansion while avoiding some guards. My rogue/archfey warlock with expertise in deception cannot wait to unleash some chaos in this fine bal to give the party some cover ^^

[@TheRawrnstuff]

@@adamkaleo4062 As an effect of the spell. Which it is. Just like the other effect of the spell. That question is like asking "how does one get advantage just by casting a spell". It's part of the spell effect.

[@adamkaleo4062]

@@TheRawrnstuff it says u get advantage on all charisma checks against that creature.

[@puggumpus]

Magic Stone genuinely shocks me, I always take it for it's constant availability

[@ScottageW]

Magic stone can be fired from a sling, which makes it eligible for sneak attacks if it's a Rogue doing the slinging. So useful.

[@thanesgames9685]

It's the only cantrip that ads your spell modifier, so its incredible at low levels. It doesn't scale, except its already doing 5-10 damage on an easy build so it might as well be tier 2, and if you are clever you get friends to help attack for 6-30 damage.

[@MercuryA2000]

Even if it wasn't good, the sheer hilarity of throwing rocks like that is great imo. If someone asked for a boost to taunting an enemy I'd probably give it to them.

[@buboniccraig896]

I use it with familiars

[@thehiddenninja3428]

@@thanesgames9685 shillelagh is a cantrip that ads your spell modifier

[@evansiegel5660]

My players destroyed one of my dragon encounters because of sapping sting, my poor dragon never got off the ground

[@PiiskaJesusFreak]

My players survived spell casting Venomfang because the bard managed to bring it down with Tasha's hideous laughter. Being able to do nearly the same with a cantrip is awesome.

[@BLOODKINGbro]

Burn off one of your legendary resistances

[@hosankojanky4623]

@@BLOODKINGbro Venomfang doesn't have legendary resistance in the Mines of Phandelver. You can give it to him but to give it to him for a level 4-5 party is kinda funny.

[@evansiegel5660]

@@BLOODKINGbro my players were fighting a young dragon so no legendary resistances

[@KetaceanKyle]

What age was the dragon?

[@danieljohnson9917]

A fun combo with the Bladesinger Blade Ward is seven levels in Eldritch Knight. Bladesinger Extra Attack Action for one attack and Blade Ward, then because you cast a cantrip as part of your Action, War Magic gives you a free bonus action attack. No usage limit, do this as often as you'd like.

[@woojitsu]

It's MAD as hell, but because my DM has an extremely generous ability score rolling house rule, I've been toying with the idea of playing a Blade Ward Bladesinger/Monk if my current character dies.

[@nicmalugin9287]

If there’s a way to walk in water you might be able to use shape water to effectively fly as a blade singer you could use this as an option to fly without taking up your attack

[@Nauriek]

Or, you could just dual wield instead - sure, it'll do less damage, but you just need to spend a feat on Fighting Initiate (or Revenant Blade) and now you're doing almost the same damage without dumping a whole 7 levels in fighter.

[@danieljohnson9917]

@@Nauriek Dual Wielding doesn't allow you to hit with Shadow Blade as a bonus action, and you'd need two feats. Because you can't cast spells without a free hand, so you'd need War Caster just to cast spells. You'd be losing TWO ASIs to do worse.

[@Nauriek]

@@danieljohnson9917 Huh, i suppose it is like this by RAW. But there's two loopholes you can use if your DM insists on enforcing those rules: 1) Craft/Buy a ruby of the warmage. It shouldn't cost more than 100 gp, as it's a common magic item. And since it's as common as a healing potion, you should be able to get it by level 6 when it starts materring. 2) *technically*, Shadow Blade doesn't specify *empty* hand, so you could layer it on top of your wand, lightsaber-style.

[@CurlyBolt]

The bonfire spell is AMAZING as a wildfire druid as you can add the extra D8 to it at least once.

[@thundercat8601]

The positioning of the tag on your hat makes it look like you have one long, curly eyebrow, kind of like a comically evil dark wizard. I like it!

[@johns9652]

I've had that thought too, and in at least one video he wore a different hat, which made the opposite eyebrow the evil one.

[@birdland4397]

i use sapping sting a lot, it's really cool thematically as well

[@davekerby9020]

Sapping Sting can be taken by a Death Domain Cleric, which then can hit two creatures at once as long as they're within 5' of each other. Instant repeatable AOE

[@theuncalledfor]

Sapping Sting is dunamancy, it only exists in the Exandria setting unless your DM says otherwise.

[@kamnse]

You actually can't take it if you're not graviturgy or chronurgy wizard, since they're not on the wizard spell list

[@DonsArtnGames]

I actually built a character that is a cantrip master. She had all of these except blade ward on her spell list. Instead she had Primal Savagery to take care of those melee ambushes that the DM liked to throw at us. I used them pretty much the same way.

[@SillySyrup]

Rules as written, Disguise Self and Friends doesn't work in the way you described because Friends says that the creature is hostile towards *you* (regardless of disguise).

[@MrTailson1]

My DM was nice enough to allow my Sorcerer to use Magic Stone (Magic Initiate) and Catapult together to combine the 1d6 + 3d8 damage together. Plus, it gave my Sorcerer a cantrip to always use Subtle Spell on when combined with the Astral Shard to teleport all over. I had a great story where my Sorcerer used those two spells when cornered to fire one of his teeth as ammunition.

[@JarieSuicune]

I am a DM and have a player that really wanted to combine the two and I figured, hey it sounds interesting and cool. They agreed to my condition that if at any time I feel it is too powerful I can rule out the combo, but so far it's been pretty good. Natural restrictions on usage: Restriction #1: Because of spellcasting rules, both spells cannot normally be cast within the same turn. Thus, it typically takes one turn partially spent on preparation for the attack. If you want to cast any spell (Lv. 0-9) as a Bonus Action, the only spells you can cast as Actions at any time during the same turn are Cantrips (Lv. 0). Even using a Fighter's Action Surge doesn't get around this limitation. (Note that if the casting times were reversed then it would work just fine within the same turn, but that's how it is set up since it is normally expected that you'd enchant a rock and just throw it.) Restriction #2: Because it requires ammo of a particular type, in this case pebbles/stones, they have to either start collecting and carrying them around or else be in an environment where they are readily available. Now, legality concerns: Magic Stone does state that the item is to then be used in a Ranged Spell Attack (by self or another creature) via either being Thrown or as part of a Ranged Weapon Attack using a Sling. Thus, Rules As Written it isn't possible to hurl the enchanted item by any other theoretical means and it do the bonus damage. That means using any kind of alternative means of launching the stone will fail to trigger the magical damage. Note that this means you cannot (RAW) use: -Using a Slingshot (RAW, it is not a Sling, which is a VERY different weapon. Google "Sling vs Slingshot" if you don't already know the difference.) -a literal catapult (ridiculous as it would be). -some entity that is not defined as "someone" attempting to throw/sling it (In RAW theory, a golem may not be able to trigger it due to not being "someone". Ask your DM how low identity can fall before a "Someone" is a "something") -Using a cricket bat, baseball bat, tennis racket, etc. (RAW, it's not a Sling so it doesn't count) -Drop-kicking (you did not throw it, you KICKED it. Ask ANY Soccer/Football fan the difference if that is beyond you.) Which means a character that is designed to specialize in cool kicks and such just can't combo this in. Or a character that, for whatever reason, just doesn't have hands. -Spitting the rock out of your mouth (Again, it wasn't Thrown. It may have been hurled, but that is not the same otherwise Catapult should count). -Dropping it from 5 or more feet above your target. RAW, you MUST actually Throw or use a Sling. (Otherwise, this would allow cool tricks like spiderwalking above an opponent, enchanting the items then just opening your hands and releasing them.) Really, that text just sounds like a waste of words to just state "here are methods of how to throw a stone" rather than "The magic doesn't work unless a nonsensical limitation on physics is obeyed" and so, for the time being I read the RAI as "If the enchanted item is hurled as part of a Ranged Attack" and weigh that higher than RAW instead. Honestly, spells and abilities that have nonsenical limitations like that need fixed. If they allow for cool stacking then that's COOL. And if they have ammo restrictions (you likely don't have an unlimited supply of rocks/pebbles) then that should be limitation enough.

[@MrTailson1]

@@JarieSuicune My DM was also nice enough to allow me to use Ball Bearings as ammo for the combo. As well as caltrops to change Catapult's damage type from bludgeoning to piercing, and even use nails attatched to the corners or a net for a ranged net attack. All of which follow unded the weight restriction of Catapult.

[@DungeonMasterSpyder]

​@JarieSuicune Ammo pouch 20 pebbles, bag of holding 20 pouches. Player had wholesale crate of pebbles delivered. So every 20 "days" a new crate was made, 1000 of pebbles. I think he used the chest spell which can hold a crate be summoned and dismissed. Ammo isn't the issue, the issue is what they do with all that ammo.

[@endrenawhite]

Magic stone has been my favorite cantrip for almost a year... thank you for showing it off. Its amazing

[@khangasOozaki]

the problem with the suggested exploit of the 'friends' cantrip is that a lot of high level creatures have methods of seeing through magical disguises, so regardless of who you look like, if you use this spell on asmodeus, he's still coming after you..

[@benthomason3307]

Would he, though? I mean, imagine if you felt a momentary magical itch from a single ant in your front yard trying to hex you. Would you even get out of your seat?

[@khangasOozaki]

@@benthomason3307 a fair point, the stat block that I can find for him says he is immune to spells bellow 6th level, so it would have no effect on him anyway.

[@gmanbo]

If you could use this on an imp In hell and cause it to think it was deliberately manipulated by another x devil. And then repeated that kind of send personas likely to be suspicious of one another against one another. It could get rather interesting. . Could you use it on high lvl bosses. No. But could you use it to manipulate his minions and henchmen into chaos making the final takedown easier. Sure.

[@tuomasronnberg5244]

​@@khangasOozakiThe spell doesn't target Asmodeus though, it targets the caster, so his spell immunity doesn't come into play.

[@TF2Thrifty]

@@tuomasronnberg5244 So are you saying that he would take damage from a fireball because the target is the ground near him? Get outta here with that

[@Maninawig]

I loved giving Sapping Sting to my Death Domain Cleric. Best part was that because it was already twinned by the class, I used Quickened Spell to cast it on two creatures as a bonus action, then twin cast Toll the Dead.

[@badwolf3618]

If I ever play in another campaign again, and the campaign has a decent amount of role play and social interactions, I will play a Warlock/Bard multiclass and pick up the cantrip Encode Thoughts. It really seems like it could be an amazing cantrip for a number of situations, especially if you have the spells Detect Thoughts and Modify Memory (which synergize with the cantrip).

[@Guy_With_A_Laser]

I know this video is a little old, but re: Shape water, this is trickier to make work than it seems at first glance. You aren't creating the water, so you can't just "shape water a cube over someone's head". The cube can only move 5ft per casting, so unless the target is 1) small and 2) right next to the water source, there isn't really a way to do this. The spell doesn't let you levitate the water volume indefinitely, so you can't lift it any more than 5 ft. A bag of holding isn't a great way to carry such a large volume of water either. It takes an action to take an item out of your bag of holding, and if it's a liquid, it will probably immediately spill onto the floor unless you have a vessel to empty it in, not stay within 5 foot cube until your next turn where you can shape water on it. For large volumes, you really need a proper water source. I feel like Shaping water into a keyhole and freezing it shouldn't do anything except fill the keyhole with ice? Yes, ice takes up more space than water, but it also moves in the direction of least resistance, so the excess ice would just spill out of the keyhole. Much like if you freeze bottle of water with the lid off... it doesn't rupture the bottle, just comes out the top. Possibly you could damage the internals of the lock enough jam it shut, I guess, but I don't think there's any way that it would actually make the lock easier to open--that's not how locks work. Throwing boiling water in an enemy's face would work, but again, you're limited to 5ft of movement so you're better off just like throwing a pot of hot soup at them. The way the spell is written it's not clear that you can move ice. My reading of it is that you can only move liquid water (change the flow) and then freeze it, but there doesn't seem to be a clear consensus on this. There are a lot of claimed exploits associated with this spell, but most of them honestly don't work if you read what the spell is actually capable of doing.

[@NeutralDrow]

Okay, good, I'm not the only one who did a double-take at that segment. Yeah, nothing shows you can levitate water with the cantrip, versus just changing its flow or (at most) stretching it upwards from a larger body. The two closest magic effects I could find to levitating water were the Shape The Flowing River discipline (which costs ki) or the Watery Sphere spell (which is 4th level). I mean, granted, I love Shape Water and it's definitely got creative uses (especially since it affects a truly batshit amount of water; 125 cubic feet is 935 gallons, or nearly 4 tons!), but it's not some unholy combination of Telekinesis and Creation.

[@DerrickBarrows]

Great editing on this!! The Stone was actually "inside" the images hand that couldn't have been too easy. Good job!

[@Midrealm_DM]

5:20 - "You freeze the water, provided that there are no creatures in it." You cannot freeze the water in the same space as a creature, so you couldnt form or freeze a spear of ice inside someone. (though the NPC might not know that) It is debatable if you could freeze it above them, as nothing in the description says you can levitate the water. You can animate it and have it move by rolling, undulating, etc. But again - nothing says the water can fly, levitate, or otherwise defy gravity. ... but you could make a cube or sphere certainly, or a five foot tall slab that falls over on them. A reasonable DM could allow a fountain or spray of water, but this is not the same as an entire 5 foot cube. Plus the creature being targeted by the frozen water should be allowed a Dex save to dodge or avoid any damage. Lastly, assuming a five foot cube of ice would weigh 286 lbs. A falling character of 200 lbs would take only 1d6 damage for falling 10 feet onto a solid surface. So a block of 300 lbs should deal maybe 1d8 to 1d10 damage if it falls 10 feet. Though one could argue it could pin or knock prone the target. I would personally limit it to somewhere between 1d6 to 1d12 damage. Keeping it in line with other cantrips. With allowing increasing damage at character level 5, 11, and 17.

[@jonp8015]

The problem with Sapping Sting is that in the book it appears, it's not a general Wizard spell, it's specifically a Chronurgy Wizard subclass-granted spell... The Chronurgy school is the most commonly banned subclasses I've seen and not because it gets Sapping Sting.

[@ShiningDarknes]

Doesn’t matter, the feat lets you take it so you are sorted even if the subclass is banned. As you said, it isn’t banned because of sapping sting.

[@mactireliath2356]

Specifically it is part of the Graviturgist, not the Chronomancer sub

[@usbobthefunny]

@@ShiningDarknes RAW The feat does not let you take it. The feat lets you take a cantrip from the Wizard class spell list, and Sapping Sting is not on the Wizard class spell list. It is only on the Graviturgy or Chronomancy SUBCLASS spell lists. Same thing with the High Elf race.

[@ShiningDarknes]

@@usbobthefunny Which is...oh would you look at that, a subclass is part of a class and therefore something that appears on the subclass spell list must be on the class spell list, otherwise where would it be? Unless of course you are suggesting the spell list found in the class is somehow not a class spell list. What you are looking for is RAI, not RAW. Raw says it is on the class spell list (by virtue of being on the subclass spell list which is found within the class). What you must also consider is that feat has remained unchanged since it was introduced and since then Graviturgy and Chronomancy have been added and Wizards has tended towards not directly updating the core spell lists instead relying on new source books to say what class has access to them. So now I am forced to interpret their intention of the RAW and my interpretation is that clearly a spell appearing within a class must be considered to be on that class's spell list unless something directly says otherwise (such as Warlocks adding spells from other lists to their spell list via their patron bonus spells known clearly not inherently being on the classes list). In the case of these wizard subclasses, though, the spells are not available on other class lists. They are exclusively found on those subclass lists, they are subclasses of wizard, non-wizards do not have access to them via class abilities. ONLY wizards have access to them via class abilities, therefore they are, in fact, found on wizard spell lists. I will re-iterate that these two subclasses of wizard came out in a sourcebook printed after the feat and the feat has not been updated. Before this book (and several others) introduced subclass-specific spells there were _only_ class spell lists (which some subclasses allowed to to gain bonus spells from other lists). So it is feasible to allow this interpretation of the RAW, it is perfectly fine if you do not agree with with this interpretation and don't want to allow such tomfoolery at your table but you must ask yourself, how game-breaking is it really? I mean people are perfectly fine with sorcerers and bards picking up the mighty eldritch blast (which is, without a feat , exclusive to warlock) but not these cantrips? Sounds a bit hypocritical to me. It doesn't break the balance of the game and requires the player to sacrifice an ASI to pick up so it isn't like it is without cost. To me, this sort of feat is clearly intended to allow people to gain access to otherwise exclusive spells _without_ the need to multiclass. Long-winded, I know, but I wanted you to know I don't say this from a point of not considering RAW, I am a pathfinder 1e guy, I _live_ for RAW/RAI debates.

[@usbobthefunny]

@@ShiningDarknesNo, it is not on the class list. This is verified in multiple areas. It is on the Subclass list only. The wizard spell list isn't a "spell list that A wizard has" it's literally the spells in the PHB, DMG, and other sourcebooks tagged to the Wizard class as a whole. Which this is not. If this were on the wizard class list, EVERY wizard would be able to take it, because EVERY wizard can select spells from the wizard class list. They cannot. Because it is not there. You can see this on just about every online compendium and resource site, as the spell is not tagged for wizards, nor appears in searches for it. As for your bards and eldritch blast, unless they are taking the feat, you are playing homebrew, and what you do homebrew is up to you. I mean, if you're going to ignore rules, that's your choice. RAW, it's only available to subclasses, and the sourcebook it was printed in even states so: "These spells are available to the wizard SUBCLASSES previously mentioned in this chapter, and to others with the DM's consent" and "Dunamancy spells are readily available to the SUBCLASSES listed in this chapter and SHOULD NOT BE ADDED TO THE FULL SPELL LISTS of other spellcasting classes" - it goes to reiterate DM options to extend this, but that's DM prerogative - not RAW.

[@mackenzierinier4956]

I just discovered Sapping Sting a month ago. Our DM put us up against a rather high CR creature creature. I went first in combat using this spell. Target fell prone. Our Barberian, Bard, and Rouge went next. Each attack with advantage. Two out of the three hit with a critical. We face a lot of things that can't be knocked prone now.

[@SmolAnarchy]

Another tip for Blade Ward: Eldritch Knight. At 7th level, you can cast a cantrip and attack as a bonus action. Not to mention, you still have action surge. Your DPS might go down, but if you combine it with Sentinel, you have one of the strongest frontliners without being a Barbarian.

[@TheOmegaXicor]

11:45 you do have to GET hit for it to do something, so it does compare to the attacking ones less favourably there

[@normal6483]

I've been wanting to try Sapping Sting on a Death Cleric for the auto-twin on it. A con save is difficult to land, but when you're targeting two different people it's a lot more reliable. It's a great cantrip to bring out when you're concentrating on Spirit Guardians and Spiritual Weapon, especially since knocking them prone gives Spiritual Weapon advantage and combos incredibly well with the speed reduction of Spirit Guardians. It also works great with War Caster - knocking someone prone when they try to move past you interrupts a bunch of their movement, and may seriously fuck them over. (You can also use Command for this, since the Grovel command forces them to go prone and end their turn.)

[@Sapphire-Lily]

20 seconds in and already hyped to hear some Sapping Sting appreciation

[@bringitonbatman]

I second this

[@salimufari]

I love the idea of magic stones being used with a sling. Now all your sling stones count as magical weapons for penetration.

[@rolancritz1853]

That friends combo is ridiculous, I love it!

[@vitorfeliphe3579]

Blade Ward is such good choice to Profane Soul Bloodhunters too, because their 7th level ability "Mystic Frenzy: Starting at 7th level, when you use your action to cast a cantrip, you can immediately make one weapon attack as a bonus action."

[@chiepah2]

Yeah, as a DM, I would rule that the hostility would be magically attached to the caster, it's not based on sight or sound but magical detection, I would also homebrew rule that you have to interact with the selected creature before the spell end for any of its effects to be applied.

[@IlllIlllllll]

as a hopeful future dm, it seems like that ruling is internally contradictory. if the detection is magical, then it should be sufficient for "interaction" to be magical as well, even if remote. I like the idea of a social interaction being required for the friends spell to take effect, but then that social interaction would be tied to the object of the social interaction, so the alter self would be effective.

[@chiepah2]

@@IlllIlllllll in my mind its the interaction that would cause the magical link

[@SmugglingDuckling]

I literally had the bladeward singer idea like a month ago. I'm so glad that DnD Shorts agrees its a good idea

[@thesleepingfox5740]

Combo idea: Scribe wizards can use their manifest mind feature to summon a spectral object that they can control. This object can pass through creatures, and you can cast spells through it using “it’s senses”. So, you could move the object into a creature, and because the object can “see” the water in their body, you could cast shape water to blood bend them like in avatar.

[@thelousygitarist6830]

Even better freeze the blood just before it goes through the heart. It will burst inside the enemie and keeps all the gore and mess inside his body! I used to have a magic class weird old dude who was like a cat lady, except having one old demented cat with him. Cat used the old dudes bag of holding to piss inside it. The old dude use his urine for spells like ice knife and all water related spells. When hitting a nat 20 the dm let's us describe the kill cam. So I described how I killed of the town square with cat piss daggers and spears inside their eyesockets. One of my our group gagged even when he saw the event happening and the immence of smell hammering his nostrils. Good game but he nerfed it by killing of my beloved Chauncy von Snuffles the thirth.. Since then he used the bag as an open toilet, which nobody new. U till it's to late..

[@jasonbell8515]

Avatar Kyoshi would like to know your location. Reason: “You know too much.”

[@andrewnewsome4277]

In the game I DM the cleric used sapping sting to kill a divebombing dragon. The party was limping around on 1-2hp wile the dragon was about to use its breath. Then the bloodied dragon took max fall damage. Absolutely prevented a tpk. Cleric lost an eye though, because it landed on top of him. Paladin brought him back immediately after. Happy ending all things considered.

[@leopomon7091]

2:26: Magic stones is one of my favorite spells in DND, yeah, it can be casted as a bonus action, but what I like is after you cast it. It makes the stones deal 1d6+ YOUR spellcasting modifier points of damage per stone when you throw them. Just cast and give the stones to the fighter, barbarian, or any other class with extra attack, and the damage is insane.

[@MeMelster]

The spell doesn't seem to and any damge to the normal throw damge. it just raplaces it with a new one. It even states that my spellcasting is used instead of the attackers, indicating that this new scalling still applies. This would mean that is makes no difference who throws it

[@leopomon7091]

@@MeMelster normal throw damage is a d4, you cast magic stone on a rock now deals the same damage as a short sword. But the one who benefits the most is always Rogue because of sneak attack.

[@stephendavis7327]

I like using bonfires and thorn whip with an Artificer, which can also use a cannon to knock enemies back into the fire.

[@MultiCommissar]

Sapping Sting does come off as a fantastic flak cannon, even if you're extremely unlikely to get past the extremely common high CON saves of enemies.

[@Darasilverdragon]

divination wizard

[@byrongsmith]

A RAW-committed DM might come across the Disguise Self+Friends combo and read the Friends spell differently: "When the spell ends, the creature realizes that you used magic to influence its mood and becomes hostile toward you." They are hostile towards you, the spellcaster, not the-creature-they-perceived-to-have-interacted-with-them. So the DM might rule that part of the effect of the spell is to reveal the identity of the spellcaster, whatever their appearance might have been...

[@Wolverine6869]

Enjoying these videos, love the ideas and creativity. LONG time player of most of the older systems, new player for this one, thank you for the inspiration and teaching this old dog new tricks. LoL

[@CarbonMage]

Big fan of Magic Stone. Picked it for artificer to use Crusher at range: it's been hilarious

[@affarinoxa]

Never thought of the Pikmin strategy but a buddy of mine used magic stone and put those stones in a sling and began hitting meaty rocks. I love shape water as well, especially in combination with create/destroy water. Once I created water and used shape water to make an instant ladder to climb a wall we were sneaking past then turned it back into a puddle so that no enemy would see any evidence we were there. Later as we ran away I made it into a stairway that melted as the last member got off. (DM was cool with this and it became a cool moment for me.)

[@Quaznick_Ruttner]

I actually am a druid in a brand new campaign that we started four days ago. We were in a situation where no one had weapons, but I had magic stone and we utterly obliterated the entire map as I was just a bullet workshop with a +6 spell attack modifier. My dm was flabbergasted

[@Butterb0ne]

You could also turn a stick into a magic club that uses your Wisdom modifier for attacks and damage, deals 1d8 bludgeoning, and gets the added benefit of your weapon proficiency when you cast the Shillelagh cantrip. Congratulations, you just turned a stick into a +5 Warhammer

[@djburk7930]

Blade Ward is also REALLY good for Eldritch Knight. You can make all your attacks, then bonus action cast it on the same turn. I survived a swinging axe hallway by abusing it too

[@ilanwallace2220]

Create bonfire can be the highest damage cantrip with a little patience. Simply ready an action to cast create bonfire with the trigger of "when the enemy ends their movement". Now you get the damage from casting the spell, and the damage of the enemy ending their turn!

[@shadowfate05]

What defines the end of their movement? If they have 30 ft of movement and move 15 feet, then stop and attack, are you going to cast it then? Because they can just move out afterwards. You also have to concentration while readying a spell, so getting hit could potentially cause you to drop the spell without even casting it, and readied actions also use up your reaction.

[@ilanwallace2220]

​@@shadowfate05 Those are all accurate caveats. For the split move thing I think it only matters what intention the caster has. The other 2 negatives though are real downsides

[@Sunny_Haven]

Some corrections for Sapping Sting: shoving a creature prone is a contested check, not a saving throw; additionally, it's not a wizard spell but instead a spell limited to only the Chronurgy wizard, Death cleric, and Graviturgy wizard, meaning that getting the Magic Initiate feat doesn't allow you to get Sapping Sting (notice the lack of feats listed in the spell description, unlike something like Find Familiar). There are some issues with Sapping Sting. It's a Constitution saving throw, which is the worst saving throw to hit as it's the type of save most creatures are good, or even very good at. Its range is also smaller than I'd like for a combat cantrip - compared to Fire Bolt or even Mind Sliver and Vicious Mockery - especially if I'm looking to knock a flying creature prone. Also, the fact that there's no size limit is really good... in theory. In practice though, I'd imagine the really big creatures who you'd love to knock prone would make their Constitution saves easily (because bigger means more health). And since it's only targeting one creature, your action gets wasted if the enemy makes their saving throw. Albeit, it's a cantrip so it's not the biggest deal but still. I will admit, it sounds pretty good otherwise. Being able to knock a flying creature prone from range is pretty funny and effective, even if it is a Constitution saving throw with a small range. And for creatures who would be ganked if they were knocked prone who happen to have legendary resistances, this cantrip is alright, because you can burn through legendary resistances with only a cantrip (again, if they fail their saving throws). It's not the best strategy but it's alright.

[@Korricat]

Now I want to make a dragonborn mage blacksmith, so fire and swords

[@gayane_igityan]

I also like Produce flame, as apart from utility it allows for range spell attacks as apposed to the target making a save.

[@jackalope22222]

Your calculations for the weight of your Shape Water trick are off. It is not 5 feet of water that need to be calculated for weight but the amount of water that can fit into a 5 foot cube, which is 25 cubic feet of water or 1560 pounds of weight.

[@r.downgrade5836]

Fair is fair. That's actually really cool for using the down-side of the 'Friends' cantrip as the main draw.

[@mr.histor1996]

A 5x5x5 ft cube is not 5 cubic feet, it's 125 cubic feet. A 5 ft cube of ice is 7,801.25 lbs.

[@chrishawkins313]

Yeah, was coming in to say this - an almost 4 ton block of ice on someone's head can be quite debilitating

[@derekludwig3945]

I, too, immediately paused the video to come say this, but assumed someone must've pointed it out by now. I've seen enough videos of industrial accidents to know that a 125 cu. ft. solid block of ice falling from virtually any height onto any creature roughly comparable to a human will not leave behind a pretty sight if the DM let's you get away with this and inflicts a reasonably realistic amount of damage for 3500+ kilos dropping on someone's head. For that matter, I'd probably rule that such an impact would be alarmingly audible for hundreds of feet, barring magical silence, and creatures within a certain radius would need to make a CON save to avoid taking thunder damage and/or being deafened.

[@schockingtonio]

I hadn't thought about using the Friends backlash to mess with other people. To me it seems like either it's a mental recognition of the creature that cast it, or it HAS to have visual confirmation for the affected creature to know who cast it. If you cast it on Asmodeus, he better be looking at you, otherwise there is no reason a physical disguise should help you avoid his wrath in any way

[@PiroMunkie]

When I first saw Sapping Sting on D&D Beyond I thought some kind of homebrew spell made it into the spell list.

[@punkdigerati]

Technically, it's Mercer homebrew, just given legitimacy

[@justnoob8141]

Because it is

[@yodabuddy2112]

I have a coffee-lock that has magic stone and shape water. Magic stone is used to counter the wild magic surges that suck without using metamagic, and I pair shape water with prestidigitation for flavored drinks, thus is the reason why he is a wine and cheese entrepreneur from the City of Ass (MTG Un-Card lore, long story)

[@jonahcraven8669]

Not a cantrip, but I've seen some very creative usage of Create or Destroy Water. Our cleric got into trouble and was locked up in the stocks in the middle of town. The spell has material components and they were stripped of their holy symbol, but thankfully, it was raining, providing the drop of water they needed. They used Create Water to make ten gallons of water appear inside the mechanism of the padlock, absolutely annihilating it.

[@benfrost148]

6:00 it's a lot heaver than that. 5 x 5 x 5 is 125. 1 cubic foot of water is 62.41 pounds. Total weight: 7,801.25 pounds!

[@ZandarDrake1025]

I got "Magic Stone" for my Earth Genasi Monk as part of his homebrew-race abilites. I flavor it as him doing like the Dai-Lee Stone-Fist thing, where he has some of his rocky protrusions surround his fist before throwing a hard punch, sending the fist-rock flying for damage.

[@joehall1945]

Important Note 5 foot cube of water isn not 286 pounds. its about 7700 pounds. water weights ~62 pounds and you can fit 125 1' cubes in a 5' space so 62*5*5*5 = 7750, ice is a little less dence about 5 lb less per cube so about 650 less meaning a 5' by 5' by 5' cube of ice is just under 7000 pounds. way more deadly than 280 pounds

[@bryanrichardson8912]

Friends doesn't say they are hostile to who they perceive you to be. It says you. RAW would mean they have a magical reason to be hostile towards actual you

[@DrDirtyBird]

I'm also pretty sure it acts as a glamor of sorts and thus you have to interact with the creature for it to affect them. It's range of self means it affects you and the creatures perception of you. It feels similar to a vampires hypnotic gaze.

[@The_Narrator615]

Unless actual you is a polymorphed you, if that’s the case, than when your polymorph comes undone the “friend” will be angry at the polymorphed creature since that was “you” And if your dm allows for you to polymorph into another human, then it’s green flags to go causing havoc 😈

[@MVCx_xB]

Wouldn't it be metagamey if an NPC who has never seen you before and only sees you in a disguise of someone else is suddenly hostile to someone they've never seen or to their knowledge met since they think you're someone else? How would that even work?

[@The_Narrator615]

@@MVCx_xB the way I see it is that (since I’m mostly a rouge) I ask around in game and receive information (maybe from a king or something) and use that information to do my polymorphing since that’s less metagamey and more character smart. +, friends does only give an advantage on charisma checks, so it is still possible to fail what you are trying to do. Also, I see it that you can transform into someone and act like it’s the first time meeting whoever you are “friending” so it makes more sense down the line when this “friend” gets mad at someone who may not even exist 😂 (since the me of the time is purely based on what you can imagine to polymorph into, based on how the spell allows you to interact with things) Sorry for the paragraph, it’s a long topic to explain

[@The_Narrator615]

@@DrDirtyBird I also feel like it would be a dms opinion on how angry the friend even gets, since the ranges of uses for this cantrip is basically infinite

[@bendystrawz2832]

3:33 that's some serious Deathspank energy right there.

[@Noeffortmemes]

I randomly paused the video at 3:33 and then read the comment

[@zac9933]

AYOOO 15 seconds in and I already feel pretty good lmao. Took Sapping Sting with my Pact of Tome Warlock. And again I am not disappointed lol. I considered taking Friends with the same warlock for this very reason. He has the invocation that let's him cast Disguise Self at will and I saw the breakable potential of this combo but decided to go a different route 😂

[@Fetch26291]

Yes. THAT is the only way to get it without being a Wizard of one of the 2 Dunamancy schools.

[@midnamidnightwhisper7529]

Knew my Earth genasi Bladesinger was lowkey broken - the Bonus Action Blade ward (a number of times equal to proficiency modifier) from being an earth genasi is great on its own - but the Blade ward can still be cast regularly as an Action, or part of the multiattack - AND the multiattack isn't limited to when you're doing your bladesong

[@bananabanana484]

Fun fact about Bladeward Singer! Shadow blade is a light weapon! You can duelwield to get a bonus action attack, circumventing it’s main downside

[@theawkwardpotato1973]

6:28 - I’d rule they would take falling damage equal to the amount they would take if they fell from a similar height. So if they made the ice spike 30 feet above the guy’s head, the target would take 3d6 piercing damage. For a whole turn minus movement and some sorcery points, that’s fair. I’d also give the target a Dex save in most cases. While I would rule you can levitate it indefinitely for at least an hour without much effort on the part of your character, it would also take a while to get the water up to that range and that’s the furthest you can hold it with this spell.

[@TheAncientAmbassador]

I never thought of the "negative" effect of the Friends cantrip being actually a boon. Thank you for bringing this to my attention! My new charismatic tiefling illusion wizard is gonna have a blast!

[@notamouse5630]

The scariest thing that can be done with shape water is a cavitation bubble, forget 7800lb of water above your head, how about a large vacuum filled sphere 10 feet diameter surrounded by 7800 lb of water collapsing with pressure likely to crush from all sides. And did I mention you could also freeze that for an hour, causing them to suffocate before the implosion.

[@ronnyrasmussen9433]

My wife in my current campaign is a Water Genasi Cleric who has the shape water cantrip (I know Monsters of the Multiverse undid this but we chose the older Genasi). She spent a lot of time making holy water and when we finally fought some vampires, one of them was restrained and she proceeded to use shape water to cause a constant flow of holy water on the vampire....effectively creating a holy water boarding as she interrogated it. We were all laughing so hard and it was my favorite use of this cantrip!

[@jacintacapelety9600]

Slight correction on Sapping Sting (and probably the reason so few people know about it). It's not a spell on the wizard spell list, it's very specifically only available to the Chronurgy and Graviturgy subclasses of wizards. No other wizards get access to it, so it's more like an expanded spell list for those subclasses. In fact, I don't think Sapping Sting is on ANY class spell list. It's exclusively a subclass specific spell.

[@MrSpazbomb]

This information is too well thought out and backed by logic to belong on this channel.

[@jacintacapelety9600]

@@MrSpazbomb It's less a matter of being well thought out and logical and more a matter of thoroughly reading the spell description. All the logic and thought in the world can't help if your logic and thought is built on faulty information as a result of misreading.

[@lordmars2387]

Saw a armor artificer sorcerer tank build recently. When I built him I decided one of his gimmicks was wall of water, quicken shape water.

[@thomasmcelroy5785]

used shape water on a stone door in a tunnel that the dm had described as "defined by a thin crack that you can barely see movement through, but cannot slip a tool into" "immovably heavy" and "as unbreakable as if it were any other part of the mountain" ... The DM got a physics lesson about the amount of force produced by freezing water, my character got a point of inspiration, and suddenly the crack around the door was found to have an invisible magic barrier preventing object entry

[@ShadowPaladin55]

Create Bonfire is so fun. In a campaign I am/was in (might not be coming back, and it was my favorite so far), our Wizard created a pile of corpses by using Create Bonfire in a doorway. The only way the enemies could reach us was through the fire. There were so many corpses that it became rough terrain, while we were inside a building.

[@guyclykos]

2:09 Magic Stone I remember specifically asking my DM; "Are you hundred percent sure it's ok for me to have this? No take backsies?" I have the magic stone spell on my druid. Me and the boys walking down the dungeon snapping our fingers. Our rogue who keep causing trouble was promptly stoned to death and goodberried back and then back to the dead again; repeat until he was no longer chaotic neutral. Good cantrip. Would recommend.

[@weswhitlock6129]

Blur is also a great tool for blade singers because it gives the attackers disadvantage if they're using sight to Target you. So on top of having a high AC you now force your opponents into disadvantage and then if you have your Shadow Blade already cast depending on what level you have a 2 to 5d8 melee weapon

[@apjtv2540]

For context on the shape water weight: A fully grown Highland bull weighs up to 1800lbs. So that's basically dropping a chonky bull directly onto someone's head. For a cantrip.

[@RabblesTheBinx]

It's more like slightly more than 4 bulls. 125 cubic feet (a 5'×5'×5' cube) weighs a little over 7800 lbs. So, more like a small rhino.

[@gregdaley2661]

Mass is easier to work out in Kg, since 1m^3 water is by definition 1 metric ton: (1000Kg)/m^3. 5' is 150cm. 1.5m^3 is 3375 Kg. @0.44 kg/lb this is 7670 lbs.

[@apjtv2540]

@@RabblesTheBinx Huh. I went with the number he said in the video. At 7800 lbs, that's like dropping 5 Minis on your head (or nearly 2 F-150 pick up trucks in Murica units)

[@wolfy2082]

I had an alchemist deer satyr character (class artificer), who was easily afraid and startled. He'd panic in the presence of monsters, and tremble in combat. But to not let the party down, he'd get at a comfortable distance, and start flinging magic stones from a slingshot he kept strapped to an oversized leather gauntlet. The minimum damage he did ever turn was actually Really good for our 3-4 level characters. But even better was how much I felt the whole setup up was in his character. I was really having my cake and eating it too. Eventually he ended up with an enchanted magic slingshot that just let this combo keep going. Alimayor was the best.

[@peternickle1884]

When pairing Magic Stone with a sling, which you are allowed to do, you are meeting the RAW conditions for: 1) the Archery fighting style 2) Sneak Attack (AFIK, this is the only way to use your spell attack to use Sneak Attack) 3) Eldritch Smite 4) at least the damage effect of the Sharpshooter feat. as well as certain other subclass specific feats (Swarmkeeper rangers are particularly synergistic)

[@chriswhittington5790]

One of my character's is a water genasi (from element evils compendium) and I use shape water in interesting ways, here's a few uses I've done (that the DM allowed) blocked an archer slit in a dungeon, npc in a bottle (shape the water in a dome around the npc and froze it), and vertical transport for my genasi. Other uses: Make a temporary barricade by freezing the water in a 45 degree angle after some of the water has seeped into the cracks in the floor. Ice weapons (DM's discretion on if it's anything more than an improvised weapon though a decent argument can be made that it should be counted as magical in nature), ice armor (DM discretion needed here), instant clothing drying. But word of advice, read the spell. You can't freeze the water if it has creatures in it

[@chaseholt7675]

I always read this spell (shape water) to be a 5ft by 5ft by 5ft cube, which is 125 cubic feet (5x5x5), times 62.4 lbs/cubic foot is 7800lbs of ice/water

[@Heartwolf]

This. 🙂

[@TheLonelyEnderman]

I like mixing Shape Water with Prestidigitation. Use Prestidigitation on the water to flavor it and color it, then shape and freeze it into popsicles.

[@francoisgagnonlemieux3135]

Create bonfire + ready action is nasty. Condition is when an ennemy stops moving in my spell range I cast it under their feets. Ennemy stops, take damage... Attack my team, end turn...Because damage is worded to take effect on end turn as well as when the spell is cast, it takes the damage a second time my fail save. DM's that don't know about my shenanigans in adventurer's league usually ends up saying it does not work like that until I give them the spell description sheet and then they grin and says all right it's fine, you deal damage twice.

[@alexmiller1800]

I once played a Druid character in a game and when I rolled stats, I rolled well. We were level 1 and I had an 18 in Wisdom. That was leaps and bounds above my friend who happened to be playing an Artificer and had maybe a 15 or 16 Intelligence. Either way, he and another player in our group either weren’t landing their cantrips, were out of range or were dealing piddly amounts of damage, so each turn I would cast Magic Stone, fire one from my sling, and give the other two to my allies so they could throw them and get my high bonus to hit and damage. Magic Stone is excellent and super fun.

[@brunoethier896]

FYI, shape water would jam a lock until it melts, there's usually not enough volume in there to break it since it only has a 10% expansion ratio and that you're fighting metal in compression.

[@Wesmin]

For sapping sting, you left out an important part that attack rolls have disadvantage against them, unless within 5ft, this means any -ranged- or -reach- attacks against them by your team... you've just made it that much harder for some of your team to hit. Prone is a good-news-bad-news situation. Also -potentially- anyone can get it, There's specific notes about Dunomancy, so -maybe- anyone can get it, or maybe not, Mainly Matt Mercers crew made some OP spells and then put a warning "these are super secret RP-wise so you likely don't know them, but -maybe- you do if your DM is ok with it. You just breezed over the 2 downsides there.

[@dakila101]

Sapping Sting is really strong, almost OP for a cantrip. I took it once in a Oneshot, not knowing how strong it is, but that time I was taking any spell that could control the field. We had an encounter wherein we needed to escape a room by solving a puzzle first, while a dragon flies around and attacks us. I ended up making the dragon fall from flying with Sapping Sting. It tried to target me after that but standing up from prone used half its movement and it stopped just a few feet away from me. Gave me just enough time to escape LOL.

[@ZandarDrake1025]

Interesting that Blade Ward got on this list too. Though didn't know Blade Singers could use it as part of their attack action too. I have a friend that's intending on playing a Ancestrial Guardian Barbarian Dragonborn with Abbarant Mark for some extra spells. He's thinking of taking the Sentinal one to get Blade Ward, with the full intention of just being a non-damaging wall. He's gonna use it as utility to keep the party safe with his guardian spirits, all while resisting damage taken in order to us to damage the baddies

[@dlewdm]

My son had a very creative use of create bonfire. Playing in the dragon of ice spire peak, they were in a huge battle against orca and ogres at the shrine of savras. They managed to retreat through the small opening at the main gate, pursued by orcs. He dropping a combination of ball bearings, cantrips and create bonfire at the opening. The orcs tried to just jump over/past the bonfire and landed on the caltrops and ball bearings, and proceeded to fail every dex save, effectively stopping them in their tracks and roasting them alive. The ogre tried to lift the gate for 4 turns in a row but apparently had pulled a muscle on back day and couldn’t pass the strength check to lift it. This combined with Nathair’s Mischief turning all the orcs into pie-smelling Disney characters made for one hilarious encounter

[@sirgusdaddyix4729]

Honorary mention: Mold Earth. I play an elemental sorcerer in my party and we were exploring an island to reach a legendary figure. There was a cliffside we had to scale up and using Mold Earth, I made grips and steps by molding the rocks as I was climbing up, like making a route at a rock climbing gym. Like Shape Water, Mold Earth has a lot of potential if you can be creative with it.

[@kennethmorgan8795]

On Blade Ward, don't forget earth Genasi can cast it as a BA PB/LR... so at lvl 6 that's 3 extra fast casts when using the Blade Singer's Extra cast without eating the cantrip there (or just doubling up on Shadow Blade Atks)... or of course on Fighters and Paladins.

[@LandonHa]

Absolute genius move by my player. One of my dungeons my players went in was a maze of one room antechambers with runes of teleportation. Each rune would send them to a different room until they made it to the end. Some rooms had traps, monsters, etc. One of my players would volunteer to go in to test it. He would hand the party an ice cube. If the room is dangerous, then he will melt the ice. Pure genius

[@PaladinNull]

Only problem with the tiny servant thing would be that commanding a tiny servant also takes a bonus action. It's a cool idea, but you would really need to run it by your DM for "throw and rocks I give you" to be a command because they wouldn't know what to throw the rocks at.

[@fightindreamers]

just a note for the prone condition. attack rolls only have advantage if the attacker is within 5 feet, otherwise attacks are made at a disadvantage. prone is even better in conjunction with grapple or restrain.

[@TheBigFormerlyPurpleT]

You have given me the perfect combo to get my character his own bar DnD, by framing the sleazy dive owner for something he already does, but I'm gonna get him caught red handed, with a salt powder to poorly attempt to sneak into a drink, his cheap ways of making people pass out in his bar before they drink him out of a profit get him exiled, and our party gets to rectify ties with everyone we disgruntled with our first visit. My character is lawful evil, and this plan was way more dastardly than my other ideas.

[@watts1012]

I would point out with Blade Ward, Eldritch Knight Fighter subclass gets a bonus action attack when casting a cantrip. If you have the option for feats, Tunnel Fighter Fighting Style with Polearm Master and Warcaster using a spear sets up a situation where you can be in Plate Armor w/ Shield, get a Blade Ward as an action, bonus action set yourself up to attack anyone who enters your threaten range with a Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade (Green Flame Blade better in this instance) and still have a reaction for a Shield Spell.