# Cool uses for Prestidigitation



## Buttercup (Mar 1, 2002)

I read an article somewhere about possible cool uses of the Prestidigitation cantrip.  I can't remember where I saw it.  Do any of you recall such an article?  

For that matter, even if you don't, can you think of some combat uses for this spell?


----------



## Rune (Mar 1, 2002)

There was an old 2e Dragon article, if I recall correctly, which included many useful applications of the cantrip spell (among other helpful bits of advice for 1st level mages).


----------



## Thorntangle (Mar 1, 2002)

It was in Tome & Blood


----------



## drnuncheon (Mar 1, 2002)

Buttercup said:
			
		

> *I read an article somewhere about possible cool uses of the Prestidigitation cantrip.  I can't remember where I saw it.  Do any of you recall such an article?
> 
> For that matter, even if you don't, can you think of some combat uses for this spell? *




I think that one of the deciding factors on whather or not you can do an effect with _prestidigitation_ is, "does it have a combat effect"?  If the answer is "yes" then you can't do it - but that's just for me.  I think the spell is plenty useful for what it is - a 0 level spell, after all - without it having to be useful in combat.

Our sorcerer uses it a lot, even so - from improving the flavor of his lousy cooking roll to cleaning blood and battle-gore off of us after we finish a fight. He even used it to remove tarnish, grime and wax from a valuable clue.

In summary, I think the spell is one that doesn't need combat uses to be cool.

J


----------



## omedon (Mar 1, 2002)

If you don't have a copy of Tome & Blood handy WOTC posted an exerpt from it called Fun With Prestidigitation just click on the link to go to the article.

As for combat uses; reading the article the fire resistance +2 from Dampening an object sounds pretty handy combat wise. You might be able to make earplugs with Change to help out with those banshee hunting expeditions as well.

I hope this helps.


----------



## Kobold Curry Chef (Mar 1, 2002)

I've found that I have uses for _prestidigitation_ at least once per session that I'm running a magic-user.  I use its minor levitation ability a lot for various purposes.  I often keep two or three instances of it prepared, just in case.  The only cantrip I use more often is _detect magic_.


----------



## ForceUser (Mar 1, 2002)

The most popular use of this spell among my friends is to summon potions and scrolls as free actions rather than as move-equivalent actions. The coolest use I've seen: the party wizard chilled his canteen while the party trudged through a vast desert. That earned him some sour glances as the others subsisted on warm water


----------



## Moe Ronalds (Mar 2, 2002)

I've used it well in D&D stories, though not in game yet. A bard and a Cleric of Pelor had been captured by barbaric kobolds the bard had planned on catching and eating. They had been tied to spits and held above huge firey pits. The cleric got off the spit, but he was surrounded by Kobolds. The suffering bard, cast prestidigitation to make howling noises in the trees. While the Kobolds looked around for the source, the Cleric cast light on himself (I dont remember there being a rule against it) and succeeded in freaking the little pests out by pretending to be a powerful god.


----------



## Jack Haggerty (Mar 2, 2002)

As for the clean/dirty part of the spell...

If you walk into a old dingy, dusty, cobwebby room, and you leave footprints behind in the dust of the floor...  Use Prestidigitaion to "redirty" the floor and remove the tracks.

Or, likewise, you walk into a very clean room, and leave muddy foot prints across the floor...  Use Prestidigitation to clean the floor (and your boots).


----------



## Buttercup (Mar 2, 2002)

Yes, I found it.  Page 80, Tome & Blood. 

As for combat uses, how about chilling the enemy's underwear 40 degrees?  And how about creating a feather to tickle the enemy's nose?  I wonder, could you use this spell to give someone a wedgie, or would you have to use Mage Hand?

I guess my sorcerer is going to be low-brow, given the way my mind is working.


----------



## whatisitgoodfor (Mar 2, 2002)

IMC, there is a sorceror that uses Pres to give opponents a "Penguin" whenever he doesn't have anything better to do. 

A penguin, of course, is dropping someone's pants around their ankles so that they waddle around.

So far, every opponent has passed the Reflex save to resist it, but one of these days...


----------



## Moon_Goddess (Mar 2, 2002)

Moe Ronalds said:
			
		

> *I've used it well in D&D stories, though not in game yet. A bard and a Cleric of Pelor had been captured by barbaric kobolds the bard had planned on catching and eating. They had been tied to spits and held above huge firey pits. The cleric got off the spit, but he was surrounded by Kobolds. The suffering bard, cast prestidigitation to make howling noises in the trees. While the Kobolds looked around for the source, the Cleric cast light on himself (I dont remember there being a rule against it) and succeeded in freaking the little pests out by pretending to be a powerful god. *




Ok, that's just pathetic, where's B.A.D.K. bothered about disposable kobolds.       Kobolds are of adverage intelligence, they aren't idiots.    Creatures with INT 10 don't fall for stupid tricks like that.    Kobolds are already weak enough to be cannon fodder, why underplay them!!!!


----------



## Jack Haggerty (Mar 2, 2002)

DarwinofMind said:
			
		

> *Ok, that's just pathetic, where's B.A.D.K. bothered about disposable kobolds.       Kobolds are of adverage intelligence, they aren't idiots.    Creatures with INT 10 don't fall for stupid tricks like that.    Kobolds are already weak enough to be cannon fodder, why underplay them!!!! *




Not to mention, he's trying to replicate a Ghost Sound spell with Prestidigitation by using it in this manner.


----------



## Chronosome (Mar 2, 2002)

One great idea in my games has been personal grooming
via _prestidigitation_.  Haircuts, baths, and fresh breath through
the convienience of arcane sorcery!

Other than that...hmmm...

My gnome character Squint Mudlunk likes to make things
taste like steak.  It wasn't a good idea to try it on himself
and tease the druid's wolverine campanion, though...


----------



## Nareau (Mar 2, 2002)

*I had a bard who used Prestidigitation a lot*

He'd cast it on his armor when selling it, to make it extra shiny.  He'd make his teeth sparkle when smiling.  He'd use it in his performances (he was a beatnik) to suppliment them with sounds, lights, etc.


----------



## Moe Ronalds (Mar 2, 2002)

> Ok, that's just pathetic, where's B.A.D.K. bothered about disposable kobolds. Kobolds are of adverage intelligence, they aren't idiots. Creatures with INT 10 don't fall for stupid tricks like that. Kobolds are already weak enough to be cannon fodder, why underplay them!!!!




Yeah but these Kobolds weren't typical. They had grown and prospered far away from normal Kobolds, in a powerful forest full of dark energy. They didn't even know how to speak Draconic, but instead spoke in a strange language they had made up. Their cheif was the only one whose intgelligence would have been higher than 4. And after all of his people had run away in fright, he didn't want to have to deal with someone who had, while in a fiery pit, managed to kill several Kobolds and use their carcasses as weapons, even if that person was mortal.


----------

