Why Prestidigitation is a BROKEN Cantrip (sometimes)

[@deck_of_DM_Things]

Thanks for watching! I'd love to hear feedback on this style of content and whether it's something you'd like to see more of. Or, if not, what you'd like to see instead. Most of my content is in short-form on TikTok, so I'm still feeling out these longer-format videos. Cheers!

[@omnigar9611]

If the rules allows it, it is not an exploit.

[@michaelanderson2166]

Agreed, not an exploit.

[@MrSilvUr]

This is the second video of yours I've seen. They both seem to be a little too "stick in the mud"-y for me. Like players doing cool stuff with the rules is bad and/or that GMs are helpless to participate in the game if the players start playing in gray areas. (One example of the latter is from the immovable rod video where the GM awards ridiculously high damage because of orbital mechanics. There's no reason the GM had to do that, so it felt kind of like a straw man.) I guess what I'm saying (and what a lot of the comments seem to be saying) is that what the videos seem to be describing as broken seems like it's fine and/or a problem with the GM being a pushover.

[@Slavic_Goblin]

Strictly speaking nothing in the spell description specifies that the mature of the trinket is under the caster's control. So, if you have a player that's known for abusing stuff, you can just point out that. You can delineate trinkets and keys. Or you can have a guard have many keys and have the would be wizard play a guessing game. There are a whole heap of ways to limit abuse, but on the other hand letting a clever player reap the rewards for being clever is also a thing.

[@vincentgrinn2665]

would love to see a video on shape water depending on how your dm allows your to interprete the rules it can be really busted too

[@phawkuffe9491]

Nothing game breaking here. Just really clever use of character abilities. I would actually encourage this style of play.

[@davidbeppler3032]

Agreed. The jail would not work. I made a comment.

[@billyhyde1415]

I feel like a lot of these also have some giant assumptions with the die rolls conveniently slanting in the favor of the cantrip-using character to make the tricks work, as well.

[@Slavic_Goblin]

It could potentially be an issue in a very low magic setting. But generally, I agree with you.

[@lwlewis007]

A-Plus gameplay, I would celebrate members doing this every time.

[@coonhound_pharoah]

Agreed. I feel like the author is just demonstrating how shallow their understanding of power is in D&D and how they are a controlling and unimaginative GM.

[@angelic8632002]

I mean, GM's should reward clever use of game mechanics imho, as long as it doesn't outright derail the campaign and the opportunity cost is high enough.

[@thesilliestgoose5990]

This is the Gm I try to be. I’ve played with a dm friend of mine where we were investigating some corpse theft in a town, and we went to the local morgue to see who had access to the bodies last. We found a symbol of Jergal carved into a coffin previously and the mortician seemed wary to share information about the cadavers, so I whispered “Praise Jergal” in her year and asked to roll a deception check. My dm looked confused, followed by immediately shock and laughter. She congratulated me for thinking of that but unfortunately the deception roll was a 7 😭

[@ravenpotter5131]

​@@thesilliestgoose5990 that's amazing! In a almost entirely homebrew tabletop me and some friends play, we all are dms and take turns dming for different locations/times/characters in the same world, my character had just invented a antigravity device, but flying wig just antigravity took too much energy, so they reduced the power from temporary 100% negation of gravity to a long term 60% reduction and added mechanical wings to actually fly!!! In a combat scenario they were stuck in a large theater area with a enemy placing lightning traps on every nearby surface and swinging lightning whips to get my character.... Barely survived that encounter just to get the crumbs beat outta me because BBEG was the man who raised my character and her sister after rescuing them from a orphanage when they were younger.... She loved him so much that her will to fight was shattered just by him walking into the room as the BBEG. It was an AMAZING session one heck of a rollercoaster and I loved every minute of it!

[@dustinavant2003]

Otherwise, you try to use a spell once in 8 games and are told "you shouldn't try to find solutions outside of the ones I has pre-planned". Like you need a randomly specific answer to what's black and white and. red/read all over? Even though there should be many right answers.

[@Viper3220]

If a cantrip can derail your campaign your campaign most likely wasn't worth playing

[@myrehmisk]

Exactly this. They gave up other options and abilities to create a character who can do something. They should get the chance to use the tricks they built in. There should be a healthy mix of the situations they designed the character to solve and completely unrelated situations that they have to solve in new ways.

[@aardmaat]

To be honest, hardly any of this seems broken. The double subtle spell and action surge combo takes a lot of resources and will only work for specific bad guys that would be interested in such a game and are willing to keep their word. The trick with the poison only works if you already have some high quality poison, which is a rather costly resource. Here the cantrip is really one small piece in a much more elaborate plan. The skeleton key thing could be broken, although it does require you to take an entire feat and e.g. mage hand with a good sleight of hand check can get you out of there just as easily, albeit with a little more risk.

[@helloraptor]

Yeah, none of these seem like anything more than 'player uses resources cleverly' levels of broken, which is to say not at all, really. Maybe it only seems broken because so many low level class abilities are basically limited use case garbage, and Prestidigitation is by its nature a more versatile tool.

[@truekurayami]

How it is broken is the vast versatility of the cantrip. You can use it for almost anything besides damage 90% of the time. So broken in nature, limited by player's creativity and DM's reasonableness.

[@dustinavant2003]

​@truekurayami The scenario in play seems extremely specific , and required multiple rolls to succeed. It's only broken if it was a one shot and you built a character around it knowing what was going to come up.

[@jnorth3341]

I agree, partly because I'm old, as in I had a copy of Chainmail (for those of you that don't know, that came before the D&D boxed sets). Prestidigitation seems to just combine a number of the cantrips that were in the old Unearthed Arcana (first book to have cantrips) but that book had some way more powerful. The fact that cantrips don't take spell slots now does make it more useful (they use to take 1/4th, or was that 1/3rd, of a 1st level slot). For most of these things having a player be that creative would be great, better then the normal murder hobos.

[@jacobbissey9311]

@@truekurayami I really don't think versatility can break something by itself. Sure, it's useful in a very BROAD variety of situations, basically only limited by your creativity, but so is persuasion. Dude could have just as easily gotten out of nearly all of those situations with clever roleplay and a persuasion check. A mechanic is only broken if it is either so powerful that it invalidates other options, or if it trivializes encounters. Persuasion exists, deception exists, and several other options that would be just as effective in most of the situations prestidigitation is effective in, maybe not all of them, but enough of them, that prestidigitation at no point invalidates taking any other option at character generation. An argument *could* be made that it trivialized the combat encounter by getting the thugs to leave you alone, but that suggests that clever roleplay in a roleplaying game is trivial, as a DM not every combat is avoidable, and the same trick won't often work more than once or twice, so bypassing an encounter every now and again isn't actually a problem, and frankly as someone who loves good roleplay, I'd rather have a party that spends every other session finding clever ways around my combat encounters than a party that defaults to combat all the time, I usually try to put multiple intended solutions into my encounters and I often accept clever alternatives that I didn't anticipate. Even the skeleton key thing, like, if I put my PCs in a cell, my *default* assumption is that they'll find some way out of it or another, because it isn't fun to just sit in a cell and do nothing while awaiting trial, so odds are I prepped the session with the assumption they'd break out and now they need to find their gear, grab it, and go, how they get out of the cell isn't particularly relevant, because I know they'll try, and if they somehow fail to get out of the cell entirely, well now we have a cool trial scene or whatever else awaits them after they are retrieved from their cell.

[@davidmoutray2644]

Personally, I think all of the examples are legitimate uses of the cantrip. Each use required skill checks or opposed skill checks and sometimes multiple skill checks. The DM can adjust the probability of success by requiring additional skill checks, making regular skill checks into opposed skill checks, increasing the DC of the check or applying disadvantage to the check. In the first two examples, the player got one shot at passing all of their checks, and if they failed there were serious *consequences*: an @$$-kicking or even death by execution. In the last example, the "skeleton key", the DM could rule that the player only gets one shot at making the checks, and if they fail, then rule that they missed some crucial detail. So, it just doesn't work. To expand a bit on the second example, poisoning King Farquaad (I see what you did there), successfully poisoning the king is just the *beginning* of that scenario. Then you need to get away. How quickly does the king keel over? If he takes a drink and collapses immediately, an alert guard will grab the servant who gave him that drink. Even if the poison takes effect with a delay, a search will be mounted. Clues will be sought out. A unique poison might provide a trail that a diligent investigator could follow back to the players. Also, even if the poison has a delayed effect, how long will you wait around to see if the king actually dies? Do you leave immediately and get a head start, risking failure of your mission? Or, do you hang around and increase the chance of getting caught? Also, if the players don't see the king actually die, how do they know he is dead? The palace could conceal that fact for a time while mounting a search for the killers. Prestidigitation is a nice utility cantrip to take to add flavor to the game, much like Minor Illusion. (Once I used Minor Illusion to create the sound of a fart and Prestidigitation to create the associated smell a turn later in order to embarrass a rival.) It adds flavor to the game and the DM has plenty of mechanics in place to reign in any possible abuse.

[@jnorth3341]

Agreed, most of the complaints seem to be from people playing in worlds where the DM didn't change from ancient earth to a world with magic. There use to be food testers for royalty to check for poison, in a world with magic I'd expect a king to have someone around all the time with either True Site or some sort of magic detection, at the very least you would need something more powerful then a cantrip, for a king, would still probably work fine on some street thugs at an inn. As there are a number of feats that can give you a cantrip, think of a world where one in 3-400 people in a city might be able to cast Prestidigitation, that would change life far more then most people realize, just from it's use to "clean". The historic change in life expectancy from the middle ages to now (well, 1900s) is not due to doctors (don't get me started on how cleric spells would change things) but civil engineers, clean water and sewer systems had far more to due with it (don't have to try and cure a disease they didn't get cause they had clean water).

[@lefterismplanas4977]

I knwo that you're making a good point. But read the first paragraph again and try to see if you could possibly fit the words "skill check" more times in a coherent phrase xD

[@Donkeyearsa]

I disagree. On two cases. The first is the poison as the affect is instantaneous that means that to hide the taste and flavor one would have to cast two spells at the exact same moment the person is drinking the poison which should be hard to hide. You cant delay the affect until a certain criteria is met aka handing someone a goblet and then them lifting the goblet to their mouth and taking the drink. You would have to be casting the spell(s) as they where lifting the goblet to their mouth as they are taking the drink. The second is the key. You are creating a mostly illusanary object and not an actual physical object that has a real physical affect on the real world aka trying to trick an inanimate object to think there was a real thing there a key in this case was actually there turning the physical tumblers of the lock.

[@nickm9102]

​@@Donkeyearsaguess you didn't actually read the spell. As for the color change and flavor change they both last for one hour. And the portion that allows for a non magical trinket OR an Illusionary image. This is specifically two different choices so they do work RAW. The reality of the situation is more often than not the DM will not like that you are circumventing their plans (as reflected by all the perception, Deception, Insite, and Slight of hand rolls they will have done) and even then may decide a way to shut you down. "Oh, you were taken prisoner in a town where their benefactor is a powerful Wizard so he installed special wards. One is a continuous detect magic that triggers a counterspell of the source when it detects any magical effects." You are very much still playing the popularity game with your DM A totally different example from my personal experience is I am playing a high lvl Sorcerer and another player was playing a multi class. He was envious of my high lvl casting so the DM created a situation in game to reverse his choice of multiclassing and become a full cleric. Then I have been trying to get access to Shapechange/ True polymorph to change my form into a dragon or simmer idea The same player who got the lvl 19 rebuild was also given a magic item that allows him to have a guaranteed success of divine intervention if the use was to cast true Polymorph to become a Dragon. So the very goal I have openly sought for over half of the campaign (2years) was given to him directly by his deity. This very much feels like a slap in the face when I get shut down when asking if I can have an area in a Magnificent Mansion that allows me to speed build Magic Items using only resources from the spell so it can leave the Mansion. I was told that was too powerful for the spell. Something that only allows me to test magic item creation ideas is too powerful for a spell that creates the entire building, servants and resources out of nothing...OK.

[@davidmoutray2644]

@@lefterismplanas4977 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Fair point!

[@zztophatzztophat]

This all seems like less of the players breaking the game and more like DMs that want things done a specific way.

[@dominicleclerc1343]

This is to me a pure example of players wanting too much power from a versatile cantrip. It does many things but each weakly.

[@ImmortalLemon]

Honestly true. I love when my players do stuff like this

[@coonhound_pharoah]

Pretty much everything this channel calls "broken" isn't broken. It's clever gameplay. I feel like the author is just a bad GM.

[@ImmortalLemon]

@@coonhound_pharoah I feel the same way. It sounds like he’s just a whiny perfectionist who wants to run a very railroaded and strict game and hates when other people outsmart him

[@piranhaplantX]

​@@dominicleclerc1343I'd be willing to agree on the key bit, as that is a bit strong for cantrip usage. But the first two examples require either resource usage and/or risky checks to pull off, and are hardly broken in any capacity. Especially from an optimization standpoint because it's virtually useless in combat.

[@iCarus_A]

For the seal/mold idea: in a world where Prestidigitation, Illusion, etc is a thing, I think a serious official seal would have magical counterfeit measures to ensure that it isn't so easily faked. Same with jail cells used to lock wizards up. They might not just use ordinary padlock -- it could be bars that are too heavy for Mage Hand, for example.

[@jamesruth100]

Yeah, a counterfeit seal might work on the average joe, or even on lower-level gov employees (like guards, secretaries, etc.), but it's going to run into some issues if the players try to use it on someone who has both the means and the incentive to verify it's authenticity. Like, for example, say your players are trying to get into some kind of storehouse. A counterfeit seal might get you in the door if it belongs to a merchant and you're just trying to get past hired guards, but it's not going to get you in if it's a repository for some noble family.

[@trevorodell5564]

Any seal that isn't glyphed to message you a correct response to a coded gesture/word combination is clearly not the real deal. Another signal will trigger its zone of truth. The proper seal is lovingly enchanted daily over the course of a year to render both effects permanent, so they can each be invoked a set number of times daily.

[@smokedbeefandcheese4144]

@@jamesruth100 that’s a good point they would probably have a Herald whose whole job it was to maintain magical seals and crests I also think that they would probably have magical heraldry that could be projected on to clouds to let you know they were coming.

[@kamirostorino9416]

in my games jails have double measure against casters. I have certain metal with anti-magic properties (Divimerite). mechanisms in lock in jail cells are usually made of this metal (no knock spell will open them. you need actually key or be good with lockpicks) and if someone is imprisoned and they suspect or know said prisoner is a caster they will cuff him in divimerite shackels that suppress all the magic of one shackled (so no casting until shackles are off you)

[@trevorodell5564]

@@kamirostorino9416 simple glyphs of counterspell could accomplish the same thing, but I agree. It's worth noting that magic isn't generally considered a common thing in D&D, though. It might only be higher security prisons that have magical countermeasures, or there might be only one cell that justified the expense, etc.

[@jonathanfairchild]

I actually love the idea of the prestidigitation cantrip being used as a key mold. This is absolutely how it would be used in the real world. This is using your resources creatively! Same with the wine. Of course balancing with different checks will make it more or less effective but I’d totally allow that as a DM.

[@berrigo2]

I feel like the wine thing shouldn't work because the second cast should overwrite the first, not stack. But that's only my opinion. maybe 2 separate casts from 2 casters would work

[@tribulationwolf]

Bard/Rogue skill monkey build. checks aren't an issue, esp if you get the throw cleric in the mix. lol

[@supersillystuffs]

@@berrigo2Well according to the spell text you can have up to three at a time

[@jamesleibee890]

prestidigitation allows two non instantaneous effects to exist at once. so long as there are no more than two effects, its fine.@@berrigo2

[@kaltziferYT]

Not having a magical security service in magical world is a mistake.

[@foolofdaggers7555]

I love cantrips. In one game, I used Prestidigitation to clean a strip of the wall on my right as I walked while exploring a sewer, creating a path marker at no material cost without expending any spell slots.

[@ieldore]

damnnn, I'm definitely using this

[@jaelwyn]

It did have one cost: you had to explore a sewer. :) Also made it dead easy to track you if anyone was trying (or even just to know someone had been there).

[@foolofdaggers7555]

@@jaelwyn Fair enough, but Prestidigitation can also be used to soil something, so I could have covered my tracks if necessary.

[@carolinelabbott2451]

I love these clever uses of the spell. I would allow it.

[@AvangionQ]

My specific limiter on Prestidigitation is that it can't directly affect unwilling creatures. || 7:52 You have it exactly correct: these use cases should be balanced by other skill checks. 1:52 First scenario requires a persuasion check, someone mentioning fire immunity, but the magic works as intended. Prestidigitation is a great complementary for social engineering. 4:03 Purple worm poison is injury, not ingestion, and I would tell my player this to choose an alternative. Poisons have four modes of delivery: contact, inhalation, injury and ingestion. Knowledge checks: nobles are wary of assassination, especially by poisoning, and have clerics and/or magic items equipped to Detect Poison, Delay Poison, Resist Poison, Death Ward, etc. 8:04 Taking a feat just to create a use case for a spell combo is always allowed, as it shows the player has put in an investment with the hope of a huge payout later on. Very nice. That said, noble insignia in my campaign use a special magical material that glows in a unique way which cannot be mimicked except by upcast illusion spells such as Major Image. You have to create your world with magic in mind. Those who hold positions of power should have experts, supporters and magic items in their employ to counter most simple plans.

[@HenshinFanatic]

There's a reason Prestidgitation used to be jokingly called "Limited Wish, Lesser". Even after a few editions worth of nerfs it's still versatile.

[@HEARTLESSKAMUI]

I remember playing a magician wizard that used prestidigitation as a cantrip, he wasn't always the best in a fight, but always tried to brighten the mood and make money with clever magic tricks. I like it as a way to do wacky little tricks and even serious deception, really lets you think about the possibilities of using magic without just worrying about big numbers.

[@Kiamors]

My prestidigitation using wizard had a stack of blank business cards she would pull out and use it to make custom cards for whatever the group was selling itself as that day. My favorite was "human removal services" as our party was entirely non human player characters.

[@OffRoadRN]

None of this seems broken, to me. The closest, of course, is the skeleton key. The obvious issue is that Keen Mind does not allow the character to recall details that were too small to have been observed.

[@Salchipapa97]

What do you mean? in this example he uses perception to specifically look at the small details If he had rolled poorly the key would not have been Identical?

[@WilliamWizer]

@@Salchipapa97 even then, this assumes all details can be seen. that may not be the case since some details may be hiden on the other side of the key. but yes, unless the DM is a bit of a jerk or wants to go for full realism in a fantasy game, a good roll on perception should sufice to notice enough details to make a copy. twice as easy if the user is used to use that trick to get keys which, I assume, he/she/it/them is since it's a neat trick. note: using perception also on the keyhole may help improve the chances of making the key.

[@Salchipapa97]

@@WilliamWizer If there were more things he needed to perceive from the key but didn't then that means he failed his perception check if there was anything that's missing then it should be obvious what wasn't seen or that he didn't roll high enough.

[@OffRoadRN]

@@Salchipapa97 the idea is of a photographic memory. Go take a picture of a key from across the room. Now try to duplicate it. You're simply not going to be able to see the small details well enough to duplicate them.

[@TwilightxKnight13]

Even a photographic memory would not be able to duplicate something as intricate as a key only viewed once from a distance. That seems a bit too “photographic.”

[@ChristnThms]

As a DM, I actually really like to see players use clever solutions like this. When I want a challenge to be more difficult, I just layer it up. Maybe the guard with the keys doesn't leave the room. Maybe another noble demands the poisoned tankard of wine while en route to the king. Maybe the lock that you just made a key for is extremely rust and squeaks loudly when operated. None of these things deny the player their clever solution. The layered challenges simply require a layered solution. The goal isn't to deny the success, but to include the other players so that a single player doesn't cheese his way through an entire encounter.

[@gameinforcer01]

The skeleton key strategy is possibly a stretch for a cantrip, but 2 levels in Conjuration wizard gets the same job done with no stretch required

[@RichWoods23]

Also a high elf or half-elf rogue thief with the Prestidigitation cantrip from their ancestry, and Fast Hands from their sub-class, would have time to conjure up a lockpick and a tension wrench, since they'll last until the end of the PCs next turn. That would provide a lockpicking attempt after twelve seconds, followed by another every six seconds after that (if your DM allows multiple attempts because you can conjure up tools better suited to the job as you learn more about the lock).

[@SuperNomega]

They also took Keen Mind. If someone is going to use a feat like that, I will give them chances to make it really useful because with the wrong DM, that feat can suck compared to other feats or an ability score increase. Let them feel rewarded for the choice.

[@coonhound_pharoah]

@@SuperNomega Taking 2 inferior feats because doing so helps solve extremely minor inconveniences isn't "broken." It's being a dumb player.

[@chrispyyyyyy97]

I'd say perception can't be used to replicate the key. Sure you can see the grooves, but investigation is for precision work, which is what keys require.

[@russellharrell2747]

@@coonhound_pharoahbut flavor! It’s not dumb, it’s just not optimized for combat, which seems to be the only thing anyone cares about

[@TheSolitaryEye]

Building your entire character around Prestidigitation is just... dedication. And at least this adheres to the rules, unlike the unhinged ramblings that Immovable Rod Fans like to try and pass off as logical. I actually really love Prestidigitation as a spell. It's the "I'm a magic man so I can do little magic things" spell. It's the most practical spell. I imagine it's why 90% of people get into wizardry, practically speaking. It just frees up so much time you'd otherwise spend on chores.

[@arthurmoore9488]

Haven't watched the invisible rod video, but my general thoughts are it's a useful tool. It should be since it's a pretty expensive magic item. Sure it could be cheesed into a knockoff flight ability, but it's not going to be that good at that. Plus, all that takes to balance it is recognizing that even a solid metal bar has a weight cap before deforming / breaking. Much less a complex magical item that's likely not solid.

[@cliveklg7739]

Its great RP for a con-man type character. Makes sense in games with good RP DMs.

[@troybaxter]

​@@cliveklg7739 Or for overall performance characters, like say a former actor or showman. Overall, a good RP based spell.

[@urbatin9355]

Prestidigation is my favorite spell! Ty for doing this episode. I had a gnome that used it as "transmute mud to gravy" for teammates he was less than fond of. I also used it while modifying doors to make a timed lock. You drill a hole in the top frame of a door frame. Put a short rod in it and plug it with Prestidigationed cork. Then drill a hole in door directly under the hole you made but only half the length of the rod you put in the top hole (that hole should be a little longer than the rod. Now the created cork will disappear after an hour. Gravity will cause the rod to fall, now the door is effectively locked cause the rod will prevent it from opening.

[@ForeverDegenerate]

That's... actually an ingenious trap. Though, where you got a drill is beyond me. I mean... unless your Gnome was a Carpenter or something?

[@anonymouse2675]

@@ForeverDegenerate The Shape Water cantrip lets you create simple shapes, like say a hand drill or a knife and then freeze them for an hour. Think of it like a temporary 3D printer spell. The only issue I have with this particular Prestidigitation idea is that the item you create only lasts for 6 seconds, but you absolutely could do it with Shape Water which lasts an hour.

[@urbatin9355]

@ForeverDegenerate as a gnome, I always go for the tinkers kit and specify tools I want with it. A hand auger is one of those items. The item description just says a variety of hand tools. Having the ability to drill a hole is always useful.

[@fluxjoint2388]

First example seems like just a clever application that will work sometimes and make the player feel smart. I see no issues Second example is much like the first, but I do like the idea of making an arcana check to be able to layer the effects. more practical use, but also more situational. You need a poison, a method to deliver said poison (like the wine), and a person willing to eat whatever you give them (so a good disguise). Takes a lot of preparation and other things, I see no issues. Third example needs a persuasion check on the guard, and potentially a history check from the guard. no major issues but i'd think of making any very important badges enchanted so it wont work. Fourth example is interesting, and would probably just work. I can't imagine owning a whisky shop is the best se of their time so it's fine. Gets some money on the side from their magic, but no issues. Fifth example is funny Sixth example just flat out works. It's what the spell does and there isn't even any deception. Service as advertised, no issues Skeleton key strategy is annoying, but fails in the face of magic locks. Also there are other ways to get rid of a lock as an issue. And they would need both a feat and to actually see the key for it to work. I'd allow it but find ways to stop it from working on important locks. Most of these sound fine and I would allow in my game. If I had one that is, I've never been a DM. Too scary.

[@kOfTheQ]

My favourite use is in aiding psychic intimidations with an eldritch warlock. "Why yes, you do hear voices of an eldritch god.'

[@BlazeGamma]

I know the badge/key things didn't work in 3.5, because the items from prestidigitation are crude and fragile

[@sethb3090]

In 5e it disappears in one round or if it deals damage, but isn't otherwise crude/fragile. So it could theoretically work.

[@JamesJNothingIsTooSensitive]

Sounds like you've never seen/used a *_real life_* skeleton key. Those things were frankly, quite fragile. Keys don't need to be sturdy, locks do. The point of the key is that it fits, so that it doesn't actually, you know have to struggle. Hell, they're so crappy that you can use the *_wrong key_* in many locks and still force it to work! I know this, because I grew up in an old house with skeleton locks, and I would often use the smallest key to open locks that had bigger keys, because it still could be forced to work. Also, those keys were not sturdy.

[@Americanbadashh]

@@JamesJNothingIsTooSensitive My brand new house key broke last month. Keys 100% need to be sturdy as well

[@JamesJNothingIsTooSensitive]

@anbadashh ...You literally just proved my point. You broke your brand new house key. Yet it was made with the normal consistency of all your other keys, which is why you didn't know anything was wrong with it until it broke. It wasn't so super thin compared to your other keys that work just fine, that you noticed at the store... You didn't know there was anything wrong until you got home and tried it in the door. Guess what that means? I means that the key wasn't special. It just had a minor flaw. *_Could_* we make sturdier keys? Sure. *_And yet we don't._* Non-sturdy keys work - they just can't have the same amount of flaws a more sturdy key could have. Do you people even think before you post shit? Yes, a lot of things would be better if they were made with more effort, more material, more time, etc. But, both back then, and now, people don't care about that. They make things the easy way. Because it's cheaper for them to do so.

[@hanssolbrig7286]

@@JamesJNothingIsTooSensitive A modern key may be able to be flimsy but the sort of keys that existed in the 18th or earlier centuries (which DnD normally emulated) were thick pieces of metal. When metal working was much cruder, everything had to made much heavier.

[@garethhamilton1252]

I’d love it if my players thought as creatively as you do. I applaud all the uses you described.

[@drgandd]

I guess if you don’t want players killing your arrogant Lord Farkwad this way, it’s probably best to establish him as having a food taster at his side at all times. And megalomania does seem to go hand in hand with paranoia…it would create a fun situation to have him turn to this unfamiliar servant and insist that they try the wine before he does 😂 Can prestidigitation color a fluid, though? It can create a color or mark on the surface of something, but would it tint-not just tint but change the color and perhaps the viscosity-of a whole glass of a substance? As for the prison thing, I do think a fairly simple skeleton key is likely to be easily forged by a good presty casting, but it’s a fresh DM who hasn’t learned that prisons need special measures if they want to keep wizards, sorcerers, druids, bards, warlocks, etc under lock and key! That said, I’m mostly with the people who think these are mostly just crises for uptight DMs.

[@SamuelRawlinson-yb2ez]

The subtle “Lord Farquad” and “cabbage man” were masterful 👌

[@Deathnotefan97]

On the second use There is an argument that it wouldn’t work RAW, as the spell says that you “flavor” a substance, not that you _change_ its flavor This could be interpreted as adding a flavor to something, potentially to cover up something else, but not actually getting rid of the flavor of the original thing I’d allow it to be attempted, but depending on the potency of the original flavor, the DC to notice would be lowered (if the player had a chefs background I’d allow them to use it to try and get the flavoring right, thus raising the DC)

[@Ahglock]

That is how I run it. It adds a flavor, it does not completely alter the flavor.

[@jk013x]

As someone who has worked in a number of professional kitchens, I can tell you that a chef uses the spices they use to "flavor" a dish, and that can absolutely "change the flavor" of almost anything. Ive had the same dish prepared different ways, and you'd never know they were the same thing without checking the menu. Beef can be made to taste like ice cream, and they call it "flavoring" the dish.

[@Deathnotefan97]

@@jk013x yes, that’s specifically why I said I’d allow a PC with a chef’s background to make it harder to detect Adding slices to a dish doesn’t remove what is already there, but the right combination and amounts _can_ react with what is already there to effect the tastebuds in a completely different way But I’m not handing that out for free

[@chrismanuel9768]

You'd be wrong. Flavoring something LITERALLY means to make it taste like something. If you want to be pedantic about RAW, then we'll use dictionary definitions. If you flavor something like oats, then it now tastes like oats, not like oats + previous thing. The would be adding a flavor, not flavoring, and you wanna go by RAW yes? Well as written flavor isn't additive. You change the flavor. Because you flavor it. What a pedantic and pointless attempt at undermining the creative efforts of your players for literally no reason save to establish control. Terrible DMing.

[@F-Lambda]

​​@@Ahglockit adds a flavor, but there's no limit to *how much* flavor it adds. add enough in the right directions, and it's gonna taste the same Edit: Just reread the text, and RAW it uses you "flavor it", not "add flavor to it". So it definitely works.

[@garywagner2616]

Thanks for the great ideas. I’ve often used Prestidigitation with food. In Rime of the Frost Maiden, the magic whale wanted an octopus snack to give us a ride. We had plenty of owlbear meat from a former battle, so we honestly told the whale, “We don’t have any octopus, but we have something that tastes just like it.” DM said, “Close enough,” and we got our ride. In another group, the minotaurs looked down on us and our iron rations until we gave them some of our food and they realized it tasted just like raw meat dripping with blood. Let’s face it, what better way to bond with a potential ally than over great tasting food?

[@adnagapot]

I would personally rule that the prestidigitation under breath thing steps on the toes of the subtle spell meta magic and anybody in say 10 feet or so can always tell you're casting a spell. Being a cantrip I would allow a deception check to disguise it as a toast but them whole under my breath thing wouldn't work

[@RichWoods23]

If there's sufficient background noise (like you could expect at a king's banquet) and anyone close by has their focus elsewhere (eg. a servant run off his feet by a demanding noble) then casting the cantrip unobserved seems a reasonable action. It forces the player to time their actions carefully, or to coordinate the casting with an active distraction carried out by a colleague (dropping a plate, perhaps), and good analysis and planning like that should be rewarded.

[@tscoff]

I agree. As a player who’s done something similar with Mage Hand. My DM made me roll a Deception check to disguise what I was doing.

[@adriansolis5362]

Clever uses of the mechanic and not necessarily game breaking. I'd probably add a deception roll (with advantage) for serving the poison wine because the character, even in proper disguise, might still need to maintain composure, but overall it would be a great way to dispatch a foe. Also, with the recreation of official insignias and such, I'd have the player go through several more steps to get an acceptable quality item, but a skeleton key on he spot works just fine.

[@benjaminfrost2780]

The first example is amazing and I love it. I would be awarding that player inspiration at the end of that session. I would have given the insight checks as well but the Insight needs to be put against something. I would have had the player make a Performance check at advantage plus their spell casting modifier to represent the two things their magic was doing for them on top of the thugs not knowing he casted anything. I will say that depending on the "thug group" they could potentially just go "okay so you are a freak when it comes to holding hot things. Still gonna mug you and take your shit. Second example given. If the player has tasted this wine before, since keen mind doesn't matter when, then I would allow this to work and the drinker wouldn't even get a check they would just drink it. Again I love this as well. Also you don't need extra checks after the successful sleight of hand. However if they hadn't drank the wine before there would be no way for them to know how it should taste denying it from being possible. Skeleton Key is interesting however......I would require more than getting a perception check at a key hanging from a waist as they walk by. Keen mind doesn't mean seeing a key from one side allows you to know all 3 dimensions of the key. I would likely make this a skill check to try and accurately guess the rest of the key. Likely a DC 21 Intelligence check.

[@davidbeppler3032]

D&D has magic. Jails are not like jails today. I made a comment explaining it. It ain't pretty.

[@benjaminfrost2780]

@@davidbeppler3032 You do realize there is written literature and modules that describe jails in the forgotten realms right? It varies depending on the prison what its like and if it accounts for magic or not. Many of the jails are normal ish jails. Also many are made for magic casters and yes those jailing systems are not pretty. Not sure why you posted this under my comment though. I was responding to the video as the creator wanted. Was this just an attempt to get someone to interface with you or what? As this "reply" you made doesn't even really seem to interact with my comment to the creator about his video.

[@greevar]

That reminds me of Doctor Who's "psychic paper". You could possibly cast "Detect Thoughts" on a person and use prestidigitation to produce a "badge" of authority they would consider genuine.

[@anonymouse2675]

That you for this idea! It`s mine now.

[@guandisimo1096]

I was put in a bronze bull and did a short rest while cooling the bottom and screaming every couple of seconds

[@ImprovisedStupidity]

dang, pretty cool way to use it!

[@somerandomjackal8135]

Love these vids, although this one doesn't seem all that broken. Creative use of spells, plus using the limited resource of sorcery points deserves rewards.

[@ophionavernus]

For the skeleton key/seal/etc recreation, I'd still rule that they have to make a dex/int/tools check based on the object they're recreating. Or maybe just an spellcasting mod check at least. Just because I have perfect pitch and remember a song doesn't mean I can play it. Also, things like keys and seals are three dimensional objects that you are unlikely to be able to see every side of without studying it.

[@j.j.henderson2049]

The only one I would have an issue with is the poison. The rule states "a color, a small mark, or a symbol appear ON an object or a surface for 1 hour". That would imply that it does not change the entire amount of the object or surface that color. So, as fluid would have a constantly changing surface (as you move the glass or drink from it), I would rule against that use. The others seem fair game, assuming the people aren't prepared for magical shenanigans.

[@boianko]

My best Prestidigitation moment was at around level 14 in combat with an enemy that had a ridiculous magical armor with a helmet that had a visor. The dude had 28 AC, so there was no hitting that normally. On my turn, I simply cast prestidigitation to colour his visor red, completely blinding him, then forcing him to waste his turn to take the helmet off and losing AC.

[@TheMichaellathrop]

So one use I've gotten out of prestidigitation is to use it to provide the help action before the rouge picked an old gunked up lock to ensure that it was clean dry free of rust etc. The rouge was able to pick the lock but failed in noticing or disarming (I don't remember) the trap, so the rouge takes 1 point of piercing damage from a needle trap and the proceeds to not need to make a saving through as the poison had been cleaned off of the trap. As far as the putting mug in the fire thing goes I would probably rule that one cast could not reduce the temperature that much, as the rules are vague and I remember there being some more spelled out limits in earlier editions. With the skeleton key I would probably require a proficiency check to craft the key not sure if it would be a thieves tools blacksmithing or a more specific locksmithing or tinkering skill, on a failure I would allow a retest with a retroactive perception check to see if sufficient detail was observed. One of the things about crafting skills is that one of the most important parts of any of those skills is learning to train your eye to really pick out and differentiate details while many laymen can tell when something is poorly made by visual inspection very few pick out exactly what is subtly wrong with an object that makes of lesser quality while a skilled craftsman can, in much the same way I would suspect that someone unskilled in locks would likely get the angles or spacing subtly wrong, and I would apply that same logic with forging a badge or seal ring. That being said I would not require the object present for direct comparison during the crafting process to make the copy if the character had the keen mind feat.

[@ForeverDegenerate]

That's an ingenious way to balance "Skeleton Key." "I'm not questioning whether you can see the key nor whether you can accurately recall what it looks like to make it. No, I'm questioning whether you have the necessary knowledge and experience to know what it is you're looking at to remember it correctly. And I'm questioning whether you have the necessary knowledge and skill to replicate said key correctly. Just because your Keen Mind allows to recreate it accurately does not mean you have the knowledge and/or skill to recreate it correctly." Though I would caution going overboard with this as there is a fine line between "realism/balance" and "being a hardass."

[@theaureliasys6362]

First scenario: Ok. So the think starts following red, make some constitution saving throws to stop yourself from screaming Player: but I cast DM: and do did one of your captors. Shenanigans will be met with shenanigans.

[@AlexFenrirGochad]

One of the things that I do when I am writing nobility characters is think about assassination attempts. How does this noble line persist? Do they have any special jewelry? Royal jewelry could easily include a necklace that casts revivify on the wearer once a day, or a ring of poison immunity, or other similar pieces of jewelry. Other things that could deter such actions are clerics or advisors who could know detect magic, or perhaps there's a centerpiece with the spell purify food and drink so that everyone at the party can dine safely at the table. There are ways around these things, and there is also higher levels of security that you could place, but if you stack, like, one or two security measures on most places you want to be secure, it's enough to deter most parties from even attempting to circumvent. I do wanna run a heist game though...

[@tideoftime]

In the second example (poisoned wine), the only thing "out of bounds", as it were, is that you can't cast the V component of a spell via whispering -- RAW (and WotC RAI) you have to speak in a clear manner that is readily heard in general conversation (but he could have used Subtle Spell as he had in the first example). Just noting that for context purposes. Otherwise, none of the examples listed "break" the game nor exceed the parameters noted for Prestidigitation.

[@DramakilzU]

I can see the laundry business as being pretty profitable since it’s quick and efficient, but I bet other novice mages will catch on to the exploit and will compete with the PC with their own laundry business.

[@coonhound_pharoah]

Or maybe people just don't care about having clean clothes.

[@fred_derf]

I see the laundry business working, but not for a gp, maybe a cp or two.

[@TeamPerilous]

I play an artificer with both Prestidigitation and Thaumaturgy, and i've done some pretty awesome things using them together.

[@edwardbarton1680]

Any world with Prestidigitation as a cantrip would have a selection of common magical items based on it. Handkerchief for cleaning, lighter, refrigerator, oven, background music, etc...

[@kokomoman]

I would like to imagine that in a world where prestidigitation is a real thing, it would be a little more common place to take precautions against some of the more broken uses. Like maybe a very important person has dispel magic cast on everything they eat, or drink…

[@imkluu]

My DM never let me get away with anything tricky when using Predestination, no matter how much it made sense. He barely let me use it for the examples given in its description.

[@elbruces]

These examples seem awesome. They make for fun and interesting scenes. I think the best way to adjudicate the rolling is to say that a clever use of prestidigitation can give advantage to certain skill checks (persuasion, sleight of hand, etc). Then make the skill check the main "roll."

[@robertcalhoun441]

I love all of these uses. My philosophy as a DM is that we're all working together to tell an awesome story. If this makes the story more awesome, I am all for it, as long as our roguish sorcerer isn't stealing the show too much and detracting from the rest of the group. It's a memory that the group will share forever of the trickster sorcerer who's just badass enough to hold his own in a fight for a few seconds but always - and they mean always - has a clever solution to get the party out of a tricky situation.

[@insertjokehere212]

First example and all I'm seeing is clever tricks to deal with the situation they're given. I'd love this as a DM!

[@JackVermicelli]

4:40 Without an ability which makes the exception, casting with a verbal component is out loud and obvious; there is no casting "under my breath."

[@citizen_grub4171]

There is if the DM says there is.

[@adcyuumi]

In dead silence under ideal conditions, the sound of verbal casting is audible to 150 feet (and not an inch further). The DM is supposed to be an honest broker here, accounting for environmental factors to lower that range - but never increase it beyond 150 feet, as that is screwing with the rules for the sake of being a ****. This might include the direction and ferocity of any wind, the hustle and bustle of people walking/talking, a babbling brook, closed doors, hanging tapestries on the stone walls, or literally anything else that might mask or dampen noise. In a noisy party for example, anyone more than 10 feet away might not hear a thing. The Cartomancer feat is useful to disguise the verbal component of Prestidigitation, as ordinary conversation. So even if the DM is being a ****, it's pretty easy to start building a character that forces them to more and more openly be a **** until not just you but your fellow players feel 100% justified in all finding a new DM.

[@thomaseskenazi2013]

Cool ones! My favorite one, I created a pocket mirror with prestidigitation as a trinket and shoved just before the face of the Medusa. She has stone cold look since then =]

[@blickybear]

"You get that sense, cause you're a very intelligent man" XXXDDDD

[@imofage3947]

Here's a fun one: use Thaumaturgy in a chase to Loony Toons a door, window, or shutter into a pursuer. Bonus points if you can hit them in the crotch or nose with a knob or handle. You might think that's impossible because of the standardization of our world. But consider that in a world with many different races, people will come in many sizes and shapes. So too must doors, windows, and shutters come in as many heights and configurations to match.

[@danielrhouck]

Nothing here until the skeleton key seems broken as long as you add the right checks, except the laundry because 1 gold is not an appropriate price for laundry (1sp for a day of unskilled labor would more than cover laundry; "instant" is worth something but not 10x the price). The skeleton key strategy as described here shouldn't work. The version where you make a mold probably should, though. I know RAW dropped the sentence "The materials created by a prestidigitation spell are extremely fragile, and they cannot be used as tools, weapons, or spell components." when moving from 3.5 to 5, but even then I think it should be fragile enough to not work as a key especially in a heavy medieval lock.

[@magnussmythe]

Our DM started our campaign with us waking up bound and kidnapped. I had magic initiate and prestidigitation because of it. I used it to summon an ornate letter opener in my hand to cut the ropes.

[@jordanhansen5934]

I once heard of an account where someone used this spell to win a wizard’s duel. Their opponent was reading a spell from a scroll and they used Prestidigitation to make a smudge appear on the parchment. It was a demon summoning scroll, and although they were able to complete the summons the last part was unreadable. So they couldn’t control the demon and got dragged down to Avernus.

[@toodlepop]

this brought back a deep memory of merlin from the sword in the stone singing "PRESTIDIGITONIOUS" or something like that.

[@Reepicheep-1]

Love Presto. For Skel Key scenario, Shape Water should also work on cell doors. If your DM allows it, either shape it into the key inside the lock, or freeze it to destroy the lock and hinges. SHAPE any liquids you see into keys, ladders, barricades, knives, swords, arrows... Go nuts.

[@CheerfuEntropy]

I remember in a jungle full of dinosaurs, we had been avoiding a titanosaur in "musth" . it was it's mating season and it was enraged and territorial so it would charge around stomping anything it could see into a pulp. During a close call when we had been hiding in a log, gm described its potent stench. we were also being pursued by trusted leutenant of a bbg, a ranger much more powerful than us, basically it was an extended "flee through the woods scene". The spelltheif cast prestidigitation on his cloak to smell like that stench, but slightly different, so he smelled like a rival male. To the Hunters credit, he was able to flee for nearly a minute before becoming a smear on the forest floor

[@jackalscry8173]

I'm playing an arcane trickster that's pretty much full utility on the magic side, so this has given me some fun new ideas.

[@kaiserinjacky]

honestly i like all of these uses; they’re fun, fit RAW and seem to not be incredibly unintended, and are sufficiently balanced out by the GM giving skill checks to the players.

[@michaelzautner4848]

I think all the examples discussed were really good and fair uses of the spell and abilities. On the first one, it cost 2 sorcery points, 1 action surge, called for a deception/insight check, and had various requirements around getting it to work in the first place. For the poison one they already had a super deadly poison, had gotten in the party in servant's attire, and it required a stealth check from the player and perception check from the target. The key might be the most contentious one, but honestly, that's more a problem of spellcasters not being properly handled in a cell. If you throw someone capable of bending reality to their will into a jail cell and don't do anything special to restrict them, you really should expect them to be out by the next day at the latest. For the quick ones: The badge is likely to work, though anyone in law enforcement or the like may be trained to observe the badge for at least 10+ seconds to make sure it is real, and it is very unlikely to hold up to any real inspection. It might get you past some unobservant guard or common folk or the like. The whisky thing is very suspect, because you can't just make the verbal and somatic components whatever movement and speech you want them to be. You might be able to convince someone that the little 'cheers ritual' you do after pouring each shot isn't magic, but in a world where a large percentage of people either know magic or see magic fairly regularly, that isn't likely to fly. Of course, this brings up a whole different worldbuilding issue as far as questions like 'what's the point in making good food/whisky when a half competent mage can make anything taste like anything?' The cold soup thing is more likely to get you thrown out than anything else. Once again, magic is common enough in D&D settings that they're going to know exactly what you did, even if no one saw you do the spell specifically. No one is going to pay a gold piece to have their clothing washed. That'd be like having a laundromat that charges a few hundred dollars a load or something. A copper? Likely to get some bites, but you're better just using the normal 'spend a day working for 5 gold' rules from the book.

[@stuffandthings617]

My bard has this spell, used it once to let the smell of something burned come out of a tent in a goblin camp, that gave us enough time to rescue 2 merchants since the boss went in to check the smell.

[@genostellar]

7:23 I actually did this as a wizard, lol. I offered cleaning services to NPCs for a silver piece per customer, as that's all my DM would allow for. Then he rolled for how many NPCs actually went for it. I didn't make any fortunes, but I had a little more pocket money than before. Adventuring still turned out to be more profitable.

[@ArcaneFuror]

This video is honestly why I love arcane tricksters and mostly play them as a Charisma > Dexterity > Wisdom > Strength > Intelligence class... trying to find a headband of intellect, gloves of thievery, boots of Elven kind, and one of the cloaks like Elven kind, Displacement, Many fashions or Shiftweave

[@wwade7226]

I love this sort of creativity in my games and as a player. Although not the same spell, minor illusion is a ton of fun, as is Thaumaturgy.

[@allenkeith7160]

"Broken?" Sure... But works as well, especially with a few skill checks here and there for tougher cases perhaps? I had thought of the "Key" idea but not with Keen Mind. That is a good idea for sure. I find these to be great combinations!

[@potatoheadpokemario1931]

Lord Farquard should have had his servant drink it to test for poison

[@theperiodictable6475]

I will give you one better and tell you how someone I knew blew up Castle Ravenloft in Curse of Strahd. Little bit of context here though first. Flour(baking ingredient) when dispersed in air in more explosive than dynamite. So the party had acquired Baba Yaga's Mortar and Pestle and used it to spread piles of flour around the second floor of Castle Ravenloft. They had also placed a wind trap and fire trap and when activated leveled the entire castle destroying everything above the first level.

[@XDarkEcho]

Prestidigitation mixed with Minor Illusion, can be a crazy combo at the early levels. Especially if you're Performance and Deception skills are high enough. I love using them, to throw off enemies, or distract npcs. Such great utility cantrips. Maybe even toss in Unseen Servant to spice things up too, if you're creative enough.

[@mattmertens3967]

Considering the lack of ingenuity and imagination I usually see from players as a Gm of over 40 yrs if I encounter a player who can figure strategies like this out you bet he will be rewarded for using his brains .

[@RoverCaptain]

As a Sorcerer, there was a Cleric which caused my pc injury. As a result, I asked the DM if I could be allowed to subtle spell prestidigitation on the clerics meals each time we ate. I made it so the food always tasted stale. The DM would articulate how amazing the food tasted for the party, and then turn to the cleric and tell them that the food tasted off. This also happened when wild magic caused heroes feast to appear. The campaign is ongoing, and they are unaware that this is the cause of their foul flavoured food.

[@tankg9263]

The Tankard Trick sounds like when we Subtle Spelled Minor Illusion to fake a dice roll to win a pirate ship. The pirate was so mad that he lost that he didn’t check the dice, he just threw the table aside. Luckily, our barbarian intimidated him into standing down, and we left with a brand new ship.

[@RealCaptainJaws]

I don't play D&D, so I definitely don't DM it, but I still love the game enough to understand almost everything and even when I don't, this channel communicates clearly enough to keep me in the loop - and stays entertaining the entire time. This is good shit.

[@ZedemMonk]

Scenario 1 is great, player gets inspiration. Scenario 2, Lord is suspicious after tasting bad wine, forces "wait-staff" to taste test the wine and waits to see if it poisons the player before drinking it. As for the Keymaking, I would rule that certain crafting checks need to be performed with access to specialized tools and/or equipment (smelter, forge, grinding wheels, etc.) some of which also requires permission to access to said tools and possibly alerting NPCs and Guards should it appear that the equipment is being used for nefarious purpose, with the end goal being to make the process of obtaining a copied key as difficult as the original depending on the circumstances. When it comes to seeing the details and shape of a key, given that it is an intricate object that is non-symmetrical there is no way to fully copy from a partial observation of half of the key as the hidden side is at least 30% different. If the player guesses at the missing side I would give them a very high luck check to succeed on their guess given the short time constraint.

[@AndrewLust]

In the examples given I don't really see a problem. As a DM not only would I allow it, but I also probably reward them with inspiration for their creative problem solving.

[@AGrayPhantom]

Normally I'd say the key is too fragile to be used to unlock the gate, but I like the creativity on display!

[@lwlewis007]

This would be even easier as an Arcane Trickster rogue. I’ve seen entire builds around the creativity of Prestidigitation, Mage Hand, and Minor Illusion. These characters are literally magical inside a castle or city, but are not broken AT ALL in combat, and it’s very hit and miss in a dungeon.

[@174zuke]

A friend of mine once used Prestidigitation to copy a charcoal drawing - the charcoal is, after all, soiling the parchment, just in a precise manner.

[@ethanweigold7025]

So I believe for the second example, the second casting of Prestidigitation would cancel out the first or at least not be active simultaneously per the rule that multiple castings of a spell on the same object don’t stack (eg two clerics casting bless on someone doesn’t give them a 2d4 bonus to rolls). At least for the first one it could be argued that since the cup is already cooled you can do the smoke effect second without harm, but for the poison wine specifically, you couldn’t have both going at once on the same thing, regardless of the “have 3 non-instant effects active at once.” That part just lets you use prestidigitation on multiple things without the spell fizzling. It wouldn’t let you override the no stacking same spells rule.

[@Butterb0ne]

I always wondered why extremely powerful foes had this is their spell list.

[@njsanders]

I've never seen any of your videos before but I am subscribing after just this one video because that tankard in the fire was beautiful. Seriously, Jersey Boy is amazing.

[@johnevans5782]

In general, I would not necessarily have an issue with these or similar uses of the Cantrip. That said, I myself would have had issues to overcome. The main one with the key. Jailors usually have rings of multiple keys; thus making it hard, if not impossible for a prisoner to pick out one specific key on the ring and know that this is indeed the one to their cell door. I would also require investigation, since just glimpsing a key for one second, even with a photographic memory, might not give them a good enough look to reproduce it correctly . Kind of like the same person seeing a car speed by, but not getting a good look at the license plate. It was a great video about the ingenuity and possibilities for this spell. Thank you!

[@teaoanimar]

None of that sounds bad or OP, they all sound like things I'd allow. Especially when they take a feat to make it work. A feat is expensive.

[@DuckPancakes3000]

These uses of Prestidigitation are great! This is a great resource for being creative with low level spells.

[@daleksec01]

Really cool that you got an into the am sponsor! Another tuber I like to watch also gets them occasionally

[@X_Potato]

That 2:55 is an easy way to check if someone is actually dead since by heating up or cooling down the body since it specifies nonliving not inorganic. Any other method would requre a roll or a spell slot comes up if your DM likes to pull "bbeg from earler didn't die and is back for revenge" often.

[@arandomperson8336]

Those uses of prestidigitation seem pretty clever to me and what I would expect of a highly intelligent magic-using character, and I would let them all stand. If prestidigitation is OP in its current form you could nerf it with some house rules (like the trinket being only an illusion) but the way the spell is worded every scenario you described is 100% legit.

[@ImprovisedStupidity]

I was in a DND session and I used prestidigitation to rust the chains I was tied up in. After that I had to make a Strength Check to break out. It felt cool.

[@CheerfuEntropy]

I recall "Simbul's Skeletal Deliquesence" being kindof a tongue twister

[@nickcampbell3812]

Generally speaking, I think these are reasonable uses of the spell. I have rules in my game for spellcasting. Not to give the spellcasters a hard time, but to be try to be fair and realistic. Firstly, spell components. In general, I don't let casters mutter verbal components under their breath. They can try to hide evidence of their casting, which will likely involve some ability checks. I try to assert that verbal components should be forceful, but not nessesarilly loud. You are trying to command the energies of the universe to perform what would otherwise be a minor miracle at minimum, you've got to pit some command (or song) in your voice. Somantic components should be similarly forceful (though again, not nessesarilly "loud") or intricate depending on the spell. These are a bit hard to say whether you would be able to perform them in a certain setting without making a scene, but here is the thing about the Skeleton Key scenerio. In a prison that knows it is housing adventurers, some of which can perform magic, do you believe that they would not have even basic precautions to make sure those magic users cannot cast spells? They may not be able to take away a barbarian's strength or a rouge's cunning, but the can certainly keep you from casting spells. Verbal components cannot be cast while gagged and both Somantic and material Components require a free hand. Depending on how much the jailor knows about magic, and how badly they want to keep the party from escaping, they may even blindfold the party, if they know some spells require sight. My point is, that if you want your party to figure out a creative, non-magical means of escape (the martials can participate too) and your setting is appropriate for it, take some time and think about what your D&D prisons/prisoner accomidations look like.

[@chadnorris8257]

Prestidigitation is good. Thaumaturgy is too. I once used Thaumaturgy to force open a large heavy door in a dungeon that the enemy was trying to close, to keep us from entering deeper in. The strong frontliners were failing their rolls, and we needed to act fast, so I cast the spell on it. The DM did ask me to roll for a check, instead of letting it be a freebie, but I succeeded, and saved the party from having to withdraw.

[@rogueshadow5280]

I once used it in a champaign to give the dwarven artificer a taste of home by flavoring some booze, and I also made sure that the barbarian and ranger of the party didn't get drunk the night before a mission by making a small cask of water look, smell and taste like that same booze

[@darcraven01]

for the key if i was a DM i would rule that not all objects are trinkets and state that the nonmagical trinket must be on an official trinket table (or spesific trinket tables that are being used in my campaign if they were limited). while some keys do appear on some trinket tables, such as the key to your family's crypt, "a guard's skeleton key" is not (at least to my knowledge) on any of the tables.

[@Voxridian]

If my players did any of these, I would totally allow it, with great relish! I live for creative uses within the boxes of the game. I would be reacting like those guys in the videos where the one friend is crouching, perfectly replicating sounds, calling them genius and amazing

[@gallaros9]

I suggest GMs that when they run high fantasy. Have tricks like these be commonplace and countered / already in market expectations. I once ran a City of Mages, where the quest was basically just a food run for some exotic flavours, so that the gastromancers have some new options for preparing the food for the Primus Magnus Sorcerus

[@stephenstonge7968]

That example should have caused thermal shock to the tankard.. which could either be obvious or even more terrifying as a gnome appears to essentially crush a tankard of either glowing metal and/or burning wood. Wood would be more obvious, though as any flames on the wood would be extinguished as it's cooled..

[@SkadiaXD]

I used Prestidigitation to save a party member from an elder god in a campaign I played in. Now, this was a very context-specific encounter. We were level 2, and the starting town was being destroyed by a creature made of black goop and larvae. It had a really nasty grapple attack where it shot globs of goop that would lash out tentacles to grapple (not restrain, this is important) a target. Now as level 2 players, we were fleeing from this thing hard, but our rogue's foot got caught by the grapple. Nothing he tried helped free himself, since the creature was immune to non-magical bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage. Now my bard, panicking ran to try and rescue him. And then I had an idea. The description of the monster said it was made of filth, and the attack specified grappled and not restrained, so I used prestidigitation to instantly clean 1 cubic foot of material: the rogue's leg. The DM allowed it, because he's incredibly cool, although he did give it a free swarm attack on me since I was essentially using magical cleaning supplies to fight a monstrosity from beyond the stars and I wasn't able to vanish the bugs in that space, but it was still worth it. To this day, my favourite use of that cantrip.

[@TorqueBacklash]

Unlike the rod video, all these examples work. The call to potential ask for skill checks is fair depending on factors. Honestly the only goof is the jail key example and it’s not what you think. Replicating the key as a trinket from memory (with or without the feat) no problem. It’s an action and it lasts till the end of the next turn so works, cool. A rule’s lawyer might be able to legit get out and maybe even use the same key to free another player. Interacting with objects is a “free” action that can be done once a turn with an action or movement. Turn a key in a lock and open a door are both listed. A reasonable argument could be the cell door unlocks and opens as one and he starts walking to the next cell after making the key. I don’t see an issue here. Let the player have the success moment and move along. Food for thought.

[@RikiazGaming]

Honestly these all just seem like good uses of the spell. If these are considered "broken" then I don't know what the point of Prestidigitation existing is, it's literally just using the spell normally, especially the wine and laundry ones.

[@JustinnP231]

lmao that first one i'd have the thugs begging him to stop after like 3 seconds like 'JESUS DUDE YOU PROVED YOUR POINT STOP STOP'

[@bungeetoons]

All this talk of prestidigitation reminds me of a character I once played as. He was a stage magician who claimed to be a master of prestidigitation, he also had zero magic power and terrible combat skills, he had to perform his way out of combat or use his magician tools creatively to survive a journey through literal hell.