Gnome Wizard casts Reduce to be less than 10 lbs, uses Mage Hand to "fly".
That's a clever idea, alas it only lasts for 1 minute and requires concentration but for a difficult river crossing or climbing a cliff it could be really useful.
For myself;
1. Knocking someting over or banging some pebbles against a wall to create a noise for guards to investigate.
2. Droppin a bag of caltrops or ball bearings
3. Bringing a set of keys over from a peg when you are locked in a cell
4. Tying someones shoe laces together as a prank.
5. Distracting someone - especially if it is invisible - good for cheating in a competition eg struming a bum string in a music performance competition.
6. Carrying a torch or small lantern.
7. Rescuing cats stuck up in trees so that little old ladies give you cookies.
My halfling bard often use hers to carry her light around ip 30 feet ahead of herself so wherever she is looking at is in bright light but she is not.
My high elf Artificer is fond of using it to carry whatever he has magically tinkered so it can make it sound like footsteps or indistinct whispers are moving around in the darkness to distract enemies. One of his favorite tactics is to record a *psst* that only plays when it is tapped and then use the mage hand to tap it against an NPC’s shoulder from behind to get the to turn around.
Gnome Wizard casts Reduce to be less than 10 lbs, uses Mage Hand to "fly".
My DM let me get away with that as a Goblin underwater, figuring the water reduced the weight enough, since even by goblin standards he was kinda small. Wouldn't let me use it to move around once I got the Warlock Invocation that let me cast levitate without a spell slot, which, y'know... fair.
EDIT: I figured I'd mention I did manage to find a way to move around by using an immovable rod kind of like a paddle to "row" myself through the air. I moved at half-speed, but hey, I was moving.
This isn’t technically a special way to use mage hand, but one of my players just recently multiclassed into Warlock because he made an in-game pact with a powerful outsider (think Cthulhu), and took the Fathomless patron (I had offered a choice between that or GOOlock), so he is reskinning his mage hand as a mini tentacle to go along with his Tentacle of the Deep.
Average human head is10-11 lbs and the human skull is about 3, so deciding to really freak someone out can be weirdly accomplished. Also, you could create a false demilich with a mage hand puppeting it from the inside. If you have an invisible mage hand, things can get weirder at up to 60' with the telekinetic feat. Moving things around and lifting unattended items.
I have also wondered how much fine motor manipulation can be demonstrated with mage hand. A lot of people try to use the hand to pickpocket or perform certain skill checks (slight of hand, pick lock, etc). The mage hand legerdemain of the Arcane Trickster allows the mage hand to express much finer manipulations in the verbiage and never points out friend or foe:
-stow one object the hand is holding in a container worn or carried by another creature
-retrieve an object in a container worn or carried by another creature
-use thieves' tools to pick locks and disarm traps at range.
These tasks can be performed without being noticed by a creature if you succeed on a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check contested by the creature's Wisdom (Perception) check. I am not sure if you can make this same check without the legerdemain.
EDIT: Missed a sentence about being able to use hand to pickpocket.
I saw something once about a guy who used Mage Hand to drag a string along the ground to look for tripwires. It's also handy (pun intended) for climbing. I will never climb without a rope to tie it for my companions again.
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"If I die, I can live with that." ~Luke Hart, the DM lair
A grappling hook and silk rope fit the 10lb weight requirement.
Use it to lift and hook the grappling hook quietly on a wall 30ft high or across a 30 foot chasm.
As long as you can see the lock you can open a locked window from outside the window.
As for dragging a string down a hallway to find trip wires. A light silk ribbon would be easier to see. It could also take a treble fish hook on a string down the hallway so you can pull the string to set off the trap.
As long as you can see the lock you can open a locked window from outside the window.
I remember seeing some debate on that possible use... mostly I think it depends on whether or not your DM lets you cast a spell through a glass pane. Although I suppose it doesn't matter if it's just like... a barred window or something.
Once I used Mage Hand to stick the fingers up a trolls nose and pull after he'd grabbed two of the Party's horses to steal away for his supper, making him drop the mounts. Horses survived.
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Heyo! Thought I'd start a thread and encourage peeps to list some 10lb items and imaginative ways you've had players use Mage Hand!
I had a bard use theirs to simply 'Shush' PCs by putting the finger to their lips.
Gnome Wizard casts Reduce to be less than 10 lbs, uses Mage Hand to "fly".
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We once had someone carry a torch with it, to get the torch out of reach of some monsters that wanted to destroy it to fight in darkness.
Was this a severed finger? Just to get it within the weight limit?
I used to pour oil in a given area with my Mage Hand and then light it with Create Bonfire.
That's a clever idea, alas it only lasts for 1 minute and requires concentration but for a difficult river crossing or climbing a cliff it could be really useful.
For myself;
1. Knocking someting over or banging some pebbles against a wall to create a noise for guards to investigate.
2. Droppin a bag of caltrops or ball bearings
3. Bringing a set of keys over from a peg when you are locked in a cell
4. Tying someones shoe laces together as a prank.
5. Distracting someone - especially if it is invisible - good for cheating in a competition eg struming a bum string in a music performance competition.
6. Carrying a torch or small lantern.
7. Rescuing cats stuck up in trees so that little old ladies give you cookies.
Does the spell work on creatures, or only objects?
It’s the very first line in the description you linked dude…
You cause a creature or an object
My halfling bard often use hers to carry her light around ip 30 feet ahead of herself so wherever she is looking at is in bright light but she is not.
My high elf Artificer is fond of using it to carry whatever he has magically tinkered so it can make it sound like footsteps or indistinct whispers are moving around in the darkness to distract enemies. One of his favorite tactics is to record a *psst* that only plays when it is tapped and then use the mage hand to tap it against an NPC’s shoulder from behind to get the to turn around.
Edit: Typo
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I used a Mage Hand to take an archers arrows from his quiver. He had to move within range or flee. Coward.
My DM let me get away with that as a Goblin underwater, figuring the water reduced the weight enough, since even by goblin standards he was kinda small. Wouldn't let me use it to move around once I got the Warlock Invocation that let me cast levitate without a spell slot, which, y'know... fair.
EDIT: I figured I'd mention I did manage to find a way to move around by using an immovable rod kind of like a paddle to "row" myself through the air. I moved at half-speed, but hey, I was moving.
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This isn’t technically a special way to use mage hand, but one of my players just recently multiclassed into Warlock because he made an in-game pact with a powerful outsider (think Cthulhu), and took the Fathomless patron (I had offered a choice between that or GOOlock), so he is reskinning his mage hand as a mini tentacle to go along with his Tentacle of the Deep.
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Average human head is10-11 lbs and the human skull is about 3, so deciding to really freak someone out can be weirdly accomplished. Also, you could create a false demilich with a mage hand puppeting it from the inside. If you have an invisible mage hand, things can get weirder at up to 60' with the telekinetic feat. Moving things around and lifting unattended items.
I have also wondered how much fine motor manipulation can be demonstrated with mage hand. A lot of people try to use the hand to pickpocket or perform certain skill checks (slight of hand, pick lock, etc). The mage hand legerdemain of the Arcane Trickster allows the mage hand to express much finer manipulations in the verbiage and never points out friend or foe:
-stow one object the hand is holding in a container worn or carried by another creature
-retrieve an object in a container worn or carried by another creature
-use thieves' tools to pick locks and disarm traps at range.
These tasks can be performed without being noticed by a creature if you succeed on a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check contested by the creature's Wisdom (Perception) check. I am not sure if you can make this same check without the legerdemain.
EDIT: Missed a sentence about being able to use hand to pickpocket.
IMHO, Earthdawn is still the best fantasy realm, Shadowrun is the best Sci-Fi realm, and Dark Sun is the best D&D realm.
I saw something once about a guy who used Mage Hand to drag a string along the ground to look for tripwires. It's also handy (pun intended) for climbing. I will never climb without a rope to tie it for my companions again.
Panda-wat (I hate my username) is somehow convinced that he is objectively right about everything D&D related even though he obviously is not. Considering that, he'd probably make a great D&D youtuber.
"If I die, I can live with that." ~Luke Hart, the DM lair
A grappling hook and silk rope fit the 10lb weight requirement.
Use it to lift and hook the grappling hook quietly on a wall 30ft high or across a 30 foot chasm.
As long as you can see the lock you can open a locked window from outside the window.
As for dragging a string down a hallway to find trip wires. A light silk ribbon would be easier to see. It could also take a treble fish hook on a string down the hallway so you can pull the string to set off the trap.
I remember seeing some debate on that possible use... mostly I think it depends on whether or not your DM lets you cast a spell through a glass pane. Although I suppose it doesn't matter if it's just like... a barred window or something.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
The spell says nothing about not being cast through a glass window.
The same with casting find familiar. If you have the time you can cast it and have the creature appear inside the room you can see through the glass.
Or just cut a hole in the glass send in the familiar or mage hand or unseen servant and then mend the window after the caper is done.
1) Open doors, chests, magic books, etc. Anything I think might be trapped.
2) Touch anything I suspect is an illusion.
3) Touch anything underwater. Particularly greenish water that the DM assures me is not Green Slime. Double Pinkie Promise.
Never trust the DM.
Once I used Mage Hand to stick the fingers up a trolls nose and pull after he'd grabbed two of the Party's horses to steal away for his supper, making him drop the mounts. Horses survived.