So, I had an idea for a character which seeks to do everything possible with Mage Hand. Here are my thoughts so far
Arcane Trickster Rogue
- make hand invisible / grab items worn or carried / grab items from closed containers / pick locks and disarm traps / move hand as a bonus action / distract creature as a bonus action (13th level)
Telekinetic Feat
- increase range by 30 feet / cast spell without verbal or somatic components
Metamagic Adept Feat
- Can grab Distant Spell to double the range of the spell (90 ft or 120 ft ??) / Can use Extended Spell to double its duration to 2 minutes
Are there any other features/traits that modify the casting of Mage Hand that I am forgetting about?
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If you gain access to 5th-level wizard spells you could also cast arcane hand, mage hand's bigger, badder cousin
You could also take chill touch as another cantrip and reflavor it as being a variation of your swiss army mage hand
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
The push effect of Telekinetic isn't really a Mage Hand, but is actually something that you can build around thematically (such as a forced-movement-through-damaging-terrain build using Spike Growth). The Mage Hand could also actually meaningfully participate in such a build, if for instance it did something like hold a Eversmoking Bottle or an object shedding Darkness, to help obscure you and the dangerous terrain and confuse enemies.
You could probably also think about doing something with an Immovable Rod held by the Mage Hand, it isn't generally able to activate magic items, but the fact that Immovable Rod is fairly specific about it just being a button to click on/off might be treated differently by your DM.
The push effect of Telekinetic isn't really a Mage Hand, but is actually something that you can build around thematically (such as a forced-movement-through-damaging-terrain build using Spike Growth). The Mage Hand could also actually meaningfully participate in such a build, if for instance it did something like hold a Eversmoking Bottle or an object shedding Darkness, to help obscure you and the dangerous terrain and confuse enemies.
You could probably also think about doing something with an Immovable Rod held by the Mage Hand, it isn't generally able to activate magic items, but the fact that Immovable Rod is fairly specific about it just being a button to click on/off might be treated differently by your DM.
The rod does specify that a creature has to push the button, though, so that (probably) won't work.
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Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
Hmmm, now I want to turn this build into a hand-spell focused one, although picking up Arcane Hand and Maximiliian's Earthen Grasp could be hard with an Arcane Trickster. I get a few spells outside of the Enchantment/Illusion schools, but not many
Since I only need 13 levels in Arcane Trickster, maybe I can take the last 7 in Wizard to pick up more known spells without the school restriction for all the fun hand ones. But that begs the question, which subclass works the best for this "hands on" approach?
Hmmm, now I want to turn this build into a hand-spell focused one, although picking up Arcane Hand and Maximiliian's Earthen Grasp could be hard with an Arcane Trickster. I get a few spells outside of the Enchantment/Illusion schools, but not many
Arcane (or Bigby's) Hand is just straight-up impossible for a pure Arcane Trickster to get, since it's 5th level. You'd need to dedicate about half your levels to wizard in order to get it.
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Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
Hmmm, now I want to turn this build into a hand-spell focused one, although picking up Arcane Hand and Maximiliian's Earthen Grasp could be hard with an Arcane Trickster. I get a few spells outside of the Enchantment/Illusion schools, but not many
Arcane (or Bigby's) Hand is just straight-up impossible for a pure Arcane Trickster to get, since it's 5th level. You'd need to dedicate about half your levels to wizard in order to get it.
So, if I went 13 levels in Arcane Trickster and 7 in Wizard, the multiclass level would be (13/3) + 7 right? So approximately 11th level which would give up to 6th level slots according to the multiclassing table if I did everything correctly.
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Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews!Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Hmmm, now I want to turn this build into a hand-spell focused one, although picking up Arcane Hand and Maximiliian's Earthen Grasp could be hard with an Arcane Trickster. I get a few spells outside of the Enchantment/Illusion schools, but not many
Arcane (or Bigby's) Hand is just straight-up impossible for a pure Arcane Trickster to get, since it's 5th level. You'd need to dedicate about half your levels to wizard in order to get it.
So, if I went 13 levels in Arcane Trickster and 7 in Wizard, the multiclass level would be (13/3) + 7 right? So approximately 11th level which would give up to 6th level slots according to the multiclassing table if I did everything correctly.
You'd have 6th-level slots, but nothing higher than 4th-level spells. The higher slots could only be used for upcasting
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Hmmm, now I want to turn this build into a hand-spell focused one, although picking up Arcane Hand and Maximiliian's Earthen Grasp could be hard with an Arcane Trickster. I get a few spells outside of the Enchantment/Illusion schools, but not many
Arcane (or Bigby's) Hand is just straight-up impossible for a pure Arcane Trickster to get, since it's 5th level. You'd need to dedicate about half your levels to wizard in order to get it.
So, if I went 13 levels in Arcane Trickster and 7 in Wizard, the multiclass level would be (13/3) + 7 right? So approximately 11th level which would give up to 6th level slots according to the multiclassing table if I did everything correctly.
Yeah, you'd have a 6th-level slot, but you still wouldn't have any way to learn the 5th-level spell (7 levels in wizard only gets you 4th-level spells). To learn it, you have to get to level 9 in wizard (or another full caster class that gets it). Wizard 9/Trickster 11 wouldn't be a terrible build. You could also switch that to 11/9 if you wanted 6th-level spells. Bladesinger would mechanically probably be your best Arcane Tradition option if you went that route. Most effective, at least it seems to me, would be to go mainly wizard but do an early dip (or, probably better, just start) in Arcane Trickster. Something like AT 4/Wizard X or Wizard 2-4/AT 4/Wizard X.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
Hmmm, now I want to turn this build into a hand-spell focused one, although picking up Arcane Hand and Maximiliian's Earthen Grasp could be hard with an Arcane Trickster. I get a few spells outside of the Enchantment/Illusion schools, but not many
Arcane (or Bigby's) Hand is just straight-up impossible for a pure Arcane Trickster to get, since it's 5th level. You'd need to dedicate about half your levels to wizard in order to get it.
So, if I went 13 levels in Arcane Trickster and 7 in Wizard, the multiclass level would be (13/3) + 7 right? So approximately 11th level which would give up to 6th level slots according to the multiclassing table if I did everything correctly.
You'd have 6th-level slots, but nothing higher than 4th-level spells. The higher slots could only be used for upcasting
I guess I took too long to type....
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
Hmmm, now I want to turn this build into a hand-spell focused one, although picking up Arcane Hand and Maximiliian's Earthen Grasp could be hard with an Arcane Trickster. I get a few spells outside of the Enchantment/Illusion schools, but not many
Arcane (or Bigby's) Hand is just straight-up impossible for a pure Arcane Trickster to get, since it's 5th level. You'd need to dedicate about half your levels to wizard in order to get it.
So, if I went 13 levels in Arcane Trickster and 7 in Wizard, the multiclass level would be (13/3) + 7 right? So approximately 11th level which would give up to 6th level slots according to the multiclassing table if I did everything correctly.
You'd have 6th-level slots, but nothing higher than 4th-level spells. The higher slots could only be used for upcasting
Hmmm. Fair enough. I think Id just have to give up on Bigby's Hand. Since Mage Hand is the main focus of this hypothetical build, I think keeping the extra utility from Arcane Trickster 13 is more important than another hand spell.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews!Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Hmmm, now I want to turn this build into a hand-spell focused one, although picking up Arcane Hand and Maximiliian's Earthen Grasp could be hard with an Arcane Trickster. I get a few spells outside of the Enchantment/Illusion schools, but not many
Arcane (or Bigby's) Hand is just straight-up impossible for a pure Arcane Trickster to get, since it's 5th level. You'd need to dedicate about half your levels to wizard in order to get it.
So, if I went 13 levels in Arcane Trickster and 7 in Wizard, the multiclass level would be (13/3) + 7 right? So approximately 11th level which would give up to 6th level slots according to the multiclassing table if I did everything correctly.
Yeah, you'd have a 6th-level slot, but you still wouldn't have any way to learn the 5th-level spell (7 levels in wizard only gets you 4th-level spells). To learn it, you have to get to level 9 in wizard (or another full caster class that gets it). Wizard 9/Trickster 11 wouldn't be a terrible build. You could also switch that to 11/9 if you wanted 6th-level spells. Bladesinger would mechanically probably be your best Arcane Tradition option if you went that route. Most effective, at least it seems to me, would be to go mainly wizard but do an early dip (or, probably better, just start) in Arcane Trickster. Something like AT 4/Wizard X or Wizard 2-4/AT 4/Wizard X.
Bladesinger does seem like a good choice. I also kinda like War Magic, reflavoring arcane deflection as another hand slapping things out of the air.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews!Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Hmmm. Fair enough. I think Id just have to give up on Bigby's Hand. Since Mage Hand is the main focus of this hypothetical build, I think keeping the extra utility from Arcane Trickster 13 is more important than another hand spell.
Really, it'd be pretty easy to reflavor a bunch of spells as "hand" based if you wanted to go all out with it. Picking a spell level at random (2nd), stuff like knock is pretty obvious. Your cloud of daggers could be multiple hands juggling the blades, rather than the blades flying around on their own. levitate could be a hand lifting up the target (or pinching them by the collar and picking them up). Etc etc etc
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Hmmm, now I want to turn this build into a hand-spell focused one, although picking up Arcane Hand and Maximiliian's Earthen Grasp could be hard with an Arcane Trickster. I get a few spells outside of the Enchantment/Illusion schools, but not many
Arcane (or Bigby's) Hand is just straight-up impossible for a pure Arcane Trickster to get, since it's 5th level. You'd need to dedicate about half your levels to wizard in order to get it.
So, if I went 13 levels in Arcane Trickster and 7 in Wizard, the multiclass level would be (13/3) + 7 right? So approximately 11th level which would give up to 6th level slots according to the multiclassing table if I did everything correctly.
Yeah, you'd have a 6th-level slot, but you still wouldn't have any way to learn the 5th-level spell (7 levels in wizard only gets you 4th-level spells). To learn it, you have to get to level 9 in wizard (or another full caster class that gets it). Wizard 9/Trickster 11 wouldn't be a terrible build. You could also switch that to 11/9 if you wanted 6th-level spells. Bladesinger would mechanically probably be your best Arcane Tradition option if you went that route. Most effective, at least it seems to me, would be to go mainly wizard but do an early dip (or, probably better, just start) in Arcane Trickster. Something like AT 4/Wizard X or Wizard 2-4/AT 4/Wizard X.
Bladesinger does seem like a good choice. I also kinda like War Magic, reflavoring arcane deflection as another hand slapping things out of the air.
Deflective slap... lol
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Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
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So, I had an idea for a character which seeks to do everything possible with Mage Hand. Here are my thoughts so far
Arcane Trickster Rogue
- make hand invisible / grab items worn or carried / grab items from closed containers / pick locks and disarm traps / move hand as a bonus action / distract creature as a bonus action (13th level)
Telekinetic Feat
- increase range by 30 feet / cast spell without verbal or somatic components
Metamagic Adept Feat
- Can grab Distant Spell to double the range of the spell (90 ft or 120 ft ??) / Can use Extended Spell to double its duration to 2 minutes
Are there any other features/traits that modify the casting of Mage Hand that I am forgetting about?
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
If you gain access to 5th-level wizard spells you could also cast arcane hand, mage hand's bigger, badder cousin
You could also take chill touch as another cantrip and reflavor it as being a variation of your swiss army mage hand
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
The push effect of Telekinetic isn't really a Mage Hand, but is actually something that you can build around thematically (such as a forced-movement-through-damaging-terrain build using Spike Growth). The Mage Hand could also actually meaningfully participate in such a build, if for instance it did something like hold a Eversmoking Bottle or an object shedding Darkness, to help obscure you and the dangerous terrain and confuse enemies.
You could probably also think about doing something with an Immovable Rod held by the Mage Hand, it isn't generally able to activate magic items, but the fact that Immovable Rod is fairly specific about it just being a button to click on/off might be treated differently by your DM.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
The rod does specify that a creature has to push the button, though, so that (probably) won't work.
Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
I'm not sure of other modifications to Mage Hand, but while we're out here suggesting hand-based spells, there's also Maximilian's Earthen Grasp.
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
Hmmm, now I want to turn this build into a hand-spell focused one, although picking up Arcane Hand and Maximiliian's Earthen Grasp could be hard with an Arcane Trickster. I get a few spells outside of the Enchantment/Illusion schools, but not many
Since I only need 13 levels in Arcane Trickster, maybe I can take the last 7 in Wizard to pick up more known spells without the school restriction for all the fun hand ones. But that begs the question, which subclass works the best for this "hands on" approach?
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Arcane (or Bigby's) Hand is just straight-up impossible for a pure Arcane Trickster to get, since it's 5th level. You'd need to dedicate about half your levels to wizard in order to get it.
Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
So, if I went 13 levels in Arcane Trickster and 7 in Wizard, the multiclass level would be (13/3) + 7 right? So approximately 11th level which would give up to 6th level slots according to the multiclassing table if I did everything correctly.
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
You'd have 6th-level slots, but nothing higher than 4th-level spells. The higher slots could only be used for upcasting
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Yeah, you'd have a 6th-level slot, but you still wouldn't have any way to learn the 5th-level spell (7 levels in wizard only gets you 4th-level spells). To learn it, you have to get to level 9 in wizard (or another full caster class that gets it). Wizard 9/Trickster 11 wouldn't be a terrible build. You could also switch that to 11/9 if you wanted 6th-level spells. Bladesinger would mechanically probably be your best Arcane Tradition option if you went that route. Most effective, at least it seems to me, would be to go mainly wizard but do an early dip (or, probably better, just start) in Arcane Trickster. Something like AT 4/Wizard X or Wizard 2-4/AT 4/Wizard X.
Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
I guess I took too long to type....
Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.
Hmmm. Fair enough. I think Id just have to give up on Bigby's Hand. Since Mage Hand is the main focus of this hypothetical build, I think keeping the extra utility from Arcane Trickster 13 is more important than another hand spell.
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Bladesinger does seem like a good choice. I also kinda like War Magic, reflavoring arcane deflection as another hand slapping things out of the air.
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Really, it'd be pretty easy to reflavor a bunch of spells as "hand" based if you wanted to go all out with it. Picking a spell level at random (2nd), stuff like knock is pretty obvious. Your cloud of daggers could be multiple hands juggling the blades, rather than the blades flying around on their own. levitate could be a hand lifting up the target (or pinching them by the collar and picking them up). Etc etc etc
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Deflective slap... lol
Paladin main who spends most of his D&D time worldbuilding or DMing, not Paladin-ing.