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.
Verbal, Somatic. You would need an exam that allows speaking. That is not normally allowed. Plus it would have to be one in which questions can be answered within a minute. A short stint on a musical instrument would be right out unless you are casting as a bard. It modifies a skill check by 5 to 20%, but a single skill check for an activity 1 min or less that does not otherwise require concentration.
Depends on what constitutes "speaking" in this. Can whispering to yourself be enough for that? Also, who says the questions have to be answered within a minute? The guidance cantrip gives you a bonus to the next ability check you make within that minute. Who's to say the ability check doesn't involve simply recalling what the answer is (or how to arrive at the answer if it's more complex than that) in that moment, which you can then spend beyond a minute putting on paper even after the cantrip's duration has ended. Knowledge checks are often just to recall information, and nothing says the information leaves your memory after the cantrip stops working.
This is what I mean by it being vague on how it would affect someone in the real world. It's also worth remembering that this is a divine or nature spell, which means it's entirely possible that mumbling a prayer to God can get it going. And I also gave a real-world equivalent to its flavour to highlight that.
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
Agreed. I don’t understand why so many people would want prestidigitation, it can light fires, Convenient. it can flavor food, that’s nice. But it doesn’t have any super big things about it that would be super useful, with guidance, you can simply tell someone to do a better job (or yourself) and it will happen!
edit: I guess I shouldn’t be too hard on prestidigitation, it is pretty good. with the heating and cooling feature, you would never need to wear a coat, or never need to spend tons of money on AC and warm water.
Hollow unbreakable arrows are the most OP common magic item, and my current method of coming up with insane combat shenanigans.
if you make a steel pipe with one end closed and a nozzle on the other, you can enlarge it, fill with any liquid, and then drop concentration, creating a high pressure squirt gun. (or a pipe bomb, depending if it holds)
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
Agreed. I don’t understand why so many people would want prestidigitation, it can light fires, Convenient. it can flavor food, that’s nice. But it doesn’t have any super big things about it that would be super useful, with guidance, you can simply tell someone to do a better job (or yourself) and it will happen!
Being better at something only gets you so far - chances are that others will still be better than you at most things. Sure, I can throw a discus somewhat further - but even if I rolled a metaphysical 4 on my Guidance roll, I am guessing a professional athlete will still beat me.
It also does not change your underlying circumstances - on a test, you may be more inclined to recall something you heard, but it is not going to magically generate information you never possessed; in a courtroom, you might be slightly more eloquent in delivery, but it will not change that the evidence is stacked against you; etc.
It would be nice to have a slight boon all the time, but, it does not get you anything hard work and practice could not also get you.
Prestidigitation gets your something you simply cannot obtain except via Magic - a set of abilities that provide you boobs useful in day to day life, and which can become extremely potent if you have the creative intelligence necessary to really break its absurd number of different modes.
Generally speaking, having a unique power unto yourself is going to be better than “a slightly better you/other person, that mat very well still inferior to others engaging in the same activity.”
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
Agreed. I don’t understand why so many people would want prestidigitation, it can light fires, Convenient. it can flavor food, that’s nice. But it doesn’t have any super big things about it that would be super useful, with guidance, you can simply tell someone to do a better job (or yourself) and it will happen!
Being better at something only gets you so far - chances are that others will still be better than you at most things. Sure, I can throw a discus somewhat further - but even if I rolled a metaphysical 4 on my Guidance roll, I am guessing a professional athlete will still beat me.
It also does not change your underlying circumstances - on a test, you may be more inclined to recall something you heard, but it is not going to magically generate information you never possessed; in a courtroom, you might be slightly more eloquent in delivery, but it will not change that the evidence is stacked against you; etc.
It would be nice to have a slight boon all the time, but, it does not get you anything hard work and practice could not also get you.
Prestidigitation gets your something you simply cannot obtain except via Magic - a set of abilities that provide you boobs useful in day to day life, and which can become extremely potent if you have the creative intelligence necessary to really break its absurd number of different modes.
Generally speaking, having a unique power unto yourself is going to be better than “a slightly better you/other person, that mat very well still inferior to others engaging in the same activity.”
That’s a good point. I admit now I would rather have prestidigitation when you put it that way.
also I would recommend rereading every word of your post
typo
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Hollow unbreakable arrows are the most OP common magic item, and my current method of coming up with insane combat shenanigans.
if you make a steel pipe with one end closed and a nozzle on the other, you can enlarge it, fill with any liquid, and then drop concentration, creating a high pressure squirt gun. (or a pipe bomb, depending if it holds)
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
That is exactly what I was thinking. Not sure whether that would be more of a money maker than being a fire fighter with Control Flames.
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
Open a Dry Cleaning business and make bank. Most dry-cleaning takes hours to days. I can do in an hour what would take a team several days. And still have time to spare. And all with just muttering a few arcane words and simple gestures. And dry-cleaning is expensive too. I could undercut in price while still delivering perfect service and make incredible profit (especially since, I don't need to hire staff, rent a big space, get machines and chemicals etc).
Easier life and easy money. Yes, please.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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In order: Prestidigitation, Mending, Mage hand. I'd also like a familiar, and a few other things, so honestly i'd just take a level in wizard. But that's not what you asked.
So, if l had to choose only one cantrip to know IRL, it'd be Prestidigitation.
Open a Dry Cleaning business and make bank. Most dry-cleaning takes hours to days. I can do in an hour what would take a team several days. And still have time to spare. And all with just muttering a few arcane words and simple gestures. And dry-cleaning is expensive too. I could undercut in price while still delivering perfect service and make incredible profit (especially since, I don't need to hire staff, rent a big space, get machines and chemicals etc).
Easier life and easy money. Yes, please.
You would probably be advised to get the machines anyway, just for show. Otherwise someone might accuse you of money laundering or something, lol.
Similar risk with Spare the Dying, by the way. Performing miracles in public is just asking for trouble.
That is also verY true.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
Open a Dry Cleaning business and make bank. Most dry-cleaning takes hours to days. I can do in an hour what would take a team several days. And still have time to spare. And all with just muttering a few arcane words and simple gestures. And dry-cleaning is expensive too. I could undercut in price while still delivering perfect service and make incredible profit (especially since, I don't need to hire staff, rent a big space, get machines and chemicals etc).
Easier life and easy money. Yes, please.
You would probably be advised to get the machines anyway, just for show. Otherwise someone might accuse you of money laundering or something, lol.
Similar risk with Spare the Dying, by the way. Performing miracles in public is just asking for trouble.
oh but what fun you could have with prestidigitation - wal up to someone and turn their water to tastes-and-looks-like-wine, then say "nobody is ever going to believe you", and walk off!
feel like pranking people? go to a fast food place and clean someone's chips every time they put vinegar on them. Go to a business area and draw glasses and mustaches on peoples faces that last for 1 hour. Go to starbucks or Costa and warm up every frappuchino that passes the counter.
Want a business? start a magical restaurant where you use Prestidigitation to make things so full of flavour they seem unreal. Hungry? Instantly warm any leftover food you pull out of the fridge, without a microwave. Bored? Make a faint trumpet fanfare sound whenever you (or a chosen prank victim) enters the room.
Mage Hand is basically telekinesis without a lot of strength, but still telekinesis. This beats everything to me, it beats auto-cleaning dishes and laundry, it beats flavouring my food etc.
You can eat chips and drink coke while gaming without having to remove your hands from the keyboard. You can pet the kitty without having to compromise which ever activity you're doing etc.
One of my big wishes in life is growing 2 extra arms, having telekinesis would be even better lol.
Yeah, with Mage Hand you can get things off shelves without bothering to get a stepladder. You can get the thing that just rolled behind the stove. You can unlock your door with a bag of groceries in each hand without setting anything down. You can get that thing that's juuuust out of reach. You can hold a mini together while the glue dries without getting your fingers stuck or getting a cramp in your hand. There's a near infinite amount of utility for Mage Hand.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
You can unlock your door with a bag of groceries in each hand without setting anything down.
... are not possible unless you already have it active beforehand, somehow.
Just to want make sure people remember this.
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Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Hollow unbreakable arrows are the most OP common magic item, and my current method of coming up with insane combat shenanigans.
if you make a steel pipe with one end closed and a nozzle on the other, you can enlarge it, fill with any liquid, and then drop concentration, creating a high pressure squirt gun. (or a pipe bomb, depending if it holds)
Actually, you just need a free hand to cast the spell. After that there's no restrictions on it.
Nice
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Hollow unbreakable arrows are the most OP common magic item, and my current method of coming up with insane combat shenanigans.
if you make a steel pipe with one end closed and a nozzle on the other, you can enlarge it, fill with any liquid, and then drop concentration, creating a high pressure squirt gun. (or a pipe bomb, depending if it holds)
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too everyone who says spare the dying: yall sound like good people :)
⌜╔═════════════ The Board ══════════════╗⌝
...and started me on my way into my next chapter in life...
⌞╚════════════ Extended Signature ════════════╝⌟
Agreed.
Orange Juice!
Depends on what constitutes "speaking" in this. Can whispering to yourself be enough for that? Also, who says the questions have to be answered within a minute? The guidance cantrip gives you a bonus to the next ability check you make within that minute. Who's to say the ability check doesn't involve simply recalling what the answer is (or how to arrive at the answer if it's more complex than that) in that moment, which you can then spend beyond a minute putting on paper even after the cantrip's duration has ended. Knowledge checks are often just to recall information, and nothing says the information leaves your memory after the cantrip stops working.
This is what I mean by it being vague on how it would affect someone in the real world. It's also worth remembering that this is a divine or nature spell, which means it's entirely possible that mumbling a prayer to God can get it going. And I also gave a real-world equivalent to its flavour to highlight that.
Agreed. I don’t understand why so many people would want prestidigitation, it can light fires, Convenient. it can flavor food, that’s nice. But it doesn’t have any super big things about it that would be super useful, with guidance, you can simply tell someone to do a better job (or yourself) and it will happen!
edit: I guess I shouldn’t be too hard on prestidigitation, it is pretty good. with the heating and cooling feature, you would never need to wear a coat, or never need to spend tons of money on AC and warm water.
Hollow unbreakable arrows are the most OP common magic item, and my current method of coming up with insane combat shenanigans.
if you make a steel pipe with one end closed and a nozzle on the other, you can enlarge it, fill with any liquid, and then drop concentration, creating a high pressure squirt gun. (or a pipe bomb, depending if it holds)
Being better at something only gets you so far - chances are that others will still be better than you at most things. Sure, I can throw a discus somewhat further - but even if I rolled a metaphysical 4 on my Guidance roll, I am guessing a professional athlete will still beat me.
It also does not change your underlying circumstances - on a test, you may be more inclined to recall something you heard, but it is not going to magically generate information you never possessed; in a courtroom, you might be slightly more eloquent in delivery, but it will not change that the evidence is stacked against you; etc.
It would be nice to have a slight boon all the time, but, it does not get you anything hard work and practice could not also get you.
Prestidigitation gets your something you simply cannot obtain except via Magic - a set of abilities that provide you boobs useful in day to day life, and which can become extremely potent if you have the creative intelligence necessary to really break its absurd number of different modes.
Generally speaking, having a unique power unto yourself is going to be better than “a slightly better you/other person, that mat very well still inferior to others engaging in the same activity.”
That’s a good point. I admit now I would rather have prestidigitation when you put it that way.
also I would recommend rereading every word of your post
typo
Hollow unbreakable arrows are the most OP common magic item, and my current method of coming up with insane combat shenanigans.
if you make a steel pipe with one end closed and a nozzle on the other, you can enlarge it, fill with any liquid, and then drop concentration, creating a high pressure squirt gun. (or a pipe bomb, depending if it holds)
That is exactly what I was thinking. Not sure whether that would be more of a money maker than being a fire fighter with Control Flames.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Prestidigitation.
Open a Dry Cleaning business and make bank. Most dry-cleaning takes hours to days. I can do in an hour what would take a team several days. And still have time to spare. And all with just muttering a few arcane words and simple gestures. And dry-cleaning is expensive too. I could undercut in price while still delivering perfect service and make incredible profit (especially since, I don't need to hire staff, rent a big space, get machines and chemicals etc).
Easier life and easy money. Yes, please.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
In order: Prestidigitation, Mending, Mage hand. I'd also like a familiar, and a few other things, so honestly i'd just take a level in wizard. But that's not what you asked.
So, if l had to choose only one cantrip to know IRL, it'd be Prestidigitation.
That is also verY true.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
The same could be said about mage hand.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
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Content Troubleshooting
oh but what fun you could have with prestidigitation - wal up to someone and turn their water to tastes-and-looks-like-wine, then say "nobody is ever going to believe you", and walk off!
feel like pranking people? go to a fast food place and clean someone's chips every time they put vinegar on them. Go to a business area and draw glasses and mustaches on peoples faces that last for 1 hour. Go to starbucks or Costa and warm up every frappuchino that passes the counter.
Want a business? start a magical restaurant where you use Prestidigitation to make things so full of flavour they seem unreal. Hungry? Instantly warm any leftover food you pull out of the fridge, without a microwave. Bored? Make a faint trumpet fanfare sound whenever you (or a chosen prank victim) enters the room.
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Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Mage Hand is basically telekinesis without a lot of strength, but still telekinesis. This beats everything to me, it beats auto-cleaning dishes and laundry, it beats flavouring my food etc.
You can eat chips and drink coke while gaming without having to remove your hands from the keyboard. You can pet the kitty without having to compromise which ever activity you're doing etc.
One of my big wishes in life is growing 2 extra arms, having telekinesis would be even better lol.
Altrazin Aghanes - Wizard/Fighter
Varpulis Windhowl - Fighter
Skolson Demjon - Cleric/Fighter
Yeah, with Mage Hand you can get things off shelves without bothering to get a stepladder. You can get the thing that just rolled behind the stove. You can unlock your door with a bag of groceries in each hand without setting anything down. You can get that thing that's juuuust out of reach. You can hold a mini together while the glue dries without getting your fingers stuck or getting a cramp in your hand. There's a near infinite amount of utility for Mage Hand.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Just going to remind Mage Hand required a Somatic component, so it requires a free hand to cast so things like...
and
... are not possible unless you already have it active beforehand, somehow.
Just to want make sure people remember this.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
Well it does make sense, you would use a hand to control the mage hand, maybe you would feel what the mage hand feels through your hand.
Hollow unbreakable arrows are the most OP common magic item, and my current method of coming up with insane combat shenanigans.
if you make a steel pipe with one end closed and a nozzle on the other, you can enlarge it, fill with any liquid, and then drop concentration, creating a high pressure squirt gun. (or a pipe bomb, depending if it holds)
Actually, you just need a free hand to cast the spell. After that there's no restrictions on it.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Nice
Hollow unbreakable arrows are the most OP common magic item, and my current method of coming up with insane combat shenanigans.
if you make a steel pipe with one end closed and a nozzle on the other, you can enlarge it, fill with any liquid, and then drop concentration, creating a high pressure squirt gun. (or a pipe bomb, depending if it holds)