Quote from Crawling_Chaos >>

Prestidigitation is probably the most obvious answer. It does so much.

I would like to give an honourable mention though to druidcraft. In the game itself, this cantrip is mediocre, but if you had it in the real world, it'd be invaluable. You can significantly speed up the growth of a seed you plant or make a flower bloom faster, you can predict the weather for the next 24 hours accurately which is very useful for your daily plans, you can use it for fragrance, and it's also a lighter you can use as many times as you want.

Also guidance might also be pretty awesome in the real world, even though it's vague how it would affect you in that context. The cantrip would make you just a little bit better at everything you do (since unlike D&D PCs, we use ability checks 99% or 100% of the time), which can have some pretty amazing cumulative effects over the course of your life.

 

 

 I do agree with you on druidcraft. would be very nice to have

Control Flames.

Then I would make my living as a travelling Skald in various shows, experiences, woods, creepy graveyards, and anywhere else I decided to set up my creepy tent with a fire full of imagery.

Quote from Yondor_The_Fantastic >>

 I do agree with you on druidcraft. would be very nice to have

But you don't agree with me about guidance?

Quote from IamSposta >>

Quote from 6thLyranGuard >>

Quote from Jegblivervirkeligtraet >>

What???

No one wants Eldritch Blast? Pretty neat self defense weapon in  society of 0 level people....

 It's overly flashy.  If you want to kill people, something that's not as obvious would be better.

 Like a gun.

 Eldrich blast wouldn’t be useful at all for every day purposes

I'm gonna say Mage Hand, as it would be very practical to use. Prestidigitation is only flashy and has no real use other than creating a distraction.

Why aren’t more people talking about mold earth? It would speed up construction of anything being built underground, you could use it for archeology, so that you can excavate something without damaging it at all, and also you would be an earth bender so that’s a plus

Quote from Epic_Fiendlock >>

I'm gonna say Mage Hand, as it would be very practical to use. Prestidigitation is only flashy and has no real use other than creating a distraction.

Are....are you serious?

You instantaneously light or snuff out a candle, a torch, or a small campfire. That has no real use?

You instantaneously clean or soil an object no larger than 1 cubic foot. That has no real use?

You chill, warm, or flavor up to 1 cubic foot of nonliving material for 1 hour. That has no real use?

Quote from Crawling_Chaos >>

Quote from Yondor_The_Fantastic >>

 I do agree with you on druidcraft. would be very nice to have

 

But you don't agree with me about guidance?

 No, I just would choose druidcraft overguidance. 

Prestidigitation would be amazing to have.

• Go on a diet and make foods you hate taste like your favorites.
• Keeps you warm / cool for 1 hour at a time.
• Dishes / laundry could be completed in seconds.
• No more ruined clothes due to stains.
• Be a minor nuisance to anyone within 10'.  Someone cut in line?  Soil their pants and watch them flee in embarrassment.
• "trinkets".

Without a doubt, Prestidigitation would have the most daily and frequent uses.

Quote from Epic_Fiendlock >>

I'm gonna say Mage Hand, as it would be very practical to use. Prestidigitation is only flashy and has no real use other than creating a distraction.

 
That seems unfair to poor Prestidigitation, and if you are only using it to create distractions, you are missing out on all its potential!

Never having to be in a silent room, always being able to cool off with a puff of wind, never having to look for matches or struggle lighting a fire, cleaning anything you need cleaned (or soiling anything if you really do not like someone), never having cold coffee or warm milk (or the opposite of each if that’s what you are in the mood for), never having to eat something you do not enjoy the taste of, creating that strange shaped screwdriver your product inexplicably uses screws for…

From just making normal life easier, to being able to win every cooking show or Survivor-type reality show eating challenge, to being an amazing boon to any Hollywood production wanting some non-CGI effects, to always being a welcome part of any social gathering, to…. Like the somewhat overpowered nature of the spell in game, the options are only constrained by your imagination. 

Quote from Crawling_Chaos >>

Quote from Epic_Fiendlock >>

I'm gonna say Mage Hand, as it would be very practical to use. Prestidigitation is only flashy and has no real use other than creating a distraction.

 

Are....are you serious?

You instantaneously light or snuff out a candle, a torch, or a small campfire. That has no real use?

You instantaneously clean or soil an object no larger than 1 cubic foot. That has no real use?

You chill, warm, or flavor up to 1 cubic foot of nonliving material for 1 hour. That has no real use?

 there are so many more uses than just a distraction. 

Quote from Caerwyn_Glyndwr >>

Quote from Epic_Fiendlock >>

I'm gonna say Mage Hand, as it would be very practical to use. Prestidigitation is only flashy and has no real use other than creating a distraction.

 
That seems unfair to poor Prestidigitation, and if you are only using it to create distractions, you are missing out on all its potential!

To be blunt, if one thinks creating a distraction is all the cantrip can do, then they haven't read all its effects or forgot about most of them.

Quote from Kotath >>

Quote from Crawling_Chaos >>

Quote from Yondor_The_Fantastic >>

 I do agree with you on druidcraft. would be very nice to have

 

But you don't agree with me about guidance?

 

What individual 6 second tests are likely to be significant issues for you? If you are an Olympic sharpshooter, perhaps but you still have to give up 6 seconds for every shot. Most real life tests are not 6 seconds. 

What you might be neglecting is that you can use the cantrip as many times as you want. If you're doing an exam for instance, you could use it right before answering each question on that test to perhaps jog your memory or nudge you in the right direction.

And because guidance is typically just you saying something and making vague gestures, you wouldn't be considered cheating, assuming there's no knowledge of such magic.

And also don't forget that the cantrip's duration is 1 minute, not 6 seconds. So that's plenty of time to for instance be a bit more persuasive than you normally are when talking to someone. Or have better luck finding something you've misplaced. Or be a little better at doing a short stint on a musical instrument.

But as I said, the effects the cantrip would have on a person in the real world would be vague. The closest equivalent I can think of is when people pray to God or whichever deity they follow to guide them as they conduct a specific task. Which is a pretty common thing that happens.

Quote from Crawling_Chaos >>

Quote from Epic_Fiendlock >>

I'm gonna say Mage Hand, as it would be very practical to use. Prestidigitation is only flashy and has no real use other than creating a distraction.

 

Are....are you serious?

You instantaneously light or snuff out a candle, a torch, or a small campfire. That has no real use?

You instantaneously clean or soil an object no larger than 1 cubic foot. That has no real use?

You chill, warm, or flavor up to 1 cubic foot of nonliving material for 1 hour. That has no real use?

 Okay, fair, but think of the versatility of Mage Hand. You could snuff a candle anyway with the hand, and it could be so easily integrated into your daily life. You could use it to grab a book off a shelf, pour a mug of coffee and bring it to yourself, and a whole range of other useful stuff. Prestidigitation is fine, but Mage Hand just seems like the better option.

If I'm sitting down to read for a while and I'm not reading a really large book, more than 1. Also, coffee made from a pot is infinitely better than instant coffee. 

I think my choice has to go for guidance. It’s very boring yes but I’d probably use it constantly. Like, with mage hand there are some cases where it isn’t useful. But there is literally no situation where guidance is not useful.

Quote from Luumin >>

I think my choice has to go for guidance. It’s very boring yes but I’d probably use it constantly. Like, with mage hand there are some cases where it isn’t useful. But there is literally no situation where guidance is not useful.

 yeah guidance would just make you better at things in general

I guess now I'm conflicted between Guidance and Mage Hand. Both have their uses, and aren't extremely situational.

Morbid choice, but Spare the Dying.
Hopefully I'll never need to use it.
Or I could switch from teaching to emergency response.

That would be nice to have on hand, especially if you work in a potentially dangerous profession.