Maybe I'm missing something, but the Friends cantrip seems to be by far the worst in the game.  So bad in fact that I'm having difficulty coming up a with a situation where using it is better than not using it.  It gives advantage on charisma checks which is good, but lasts at most 1 minute and turns someone who was not hostile to you hostile.  1 minute isn't enough time to get out of town so the best you can really do is maybe get a good deal from a merchant who will never sell to you again and will try to get you arrested at the next opportunity.   Is there a good reason to use this spell that I'm missing?

With all of that said, I do have a character I'm building who is not too bright and wants everyone to like him.  I kind of want to have him use this at every opportunity and see what happens, but I'm afraid that would annoy my group.  Is that something that would be funny and fun, or just get other people mad at me?

Disguise Self.

Cast Friends on merchant.

Use advantage on charisma checks for nice Persuasion rolls for haggling and discounts.

Leave with items.

Drop disguise self and watch as the merchant gets mad at somebody who doesn't exist.

--

Disguise Self to imitate somebody you dislike.

Use Friends on their closest allies, family and friends.

Leave and drop disguise and watch as that person's life crumbles to nothing with everyone hating them and them never knowing why.

-

Use Friends for the free advantages and then Modify Memory to make them forget.

-

Level 14 wizard of the school of enchantment. Basically all the benefits of Friends and without them turning hostile.

-

Use friends on an enemy to calm them down and get a truce with advantage on persuasion. Your party basically gets 1 minute to prepare and reposition to continue the combat from a more favourable position.

-

Use friends and persuasion to convince somebody to not run away or put them at ease before your party ambushes and restrains them.

-

Use friends for the advantage to intimidation and while they are afraid of you, you can interrogate briefly or cast a Fear spell - you could discuss with DM that the normal intimidation grants disadvantage on the saving throw. Even when they become hostile they're too frightened to do much about it.

-

Use Friends to lure enemies into traps.

-

If a battle is becoming difficult because the enemy is too strong, use Friends to try and turn that hostile into a non-hostile. You get to go past or run away without risk and get a 1-minute headstart before it wears off and they chase you.

-

If an ally has become hostile and upset with you so much they're not letting you tell your side of things then the spell can be used to more easily have your say and convince them you're using the spell because you need them to listen to you. They'll go back to being hostile and upset after it wears off but they will also still remember what you said and after a while that may sink in and you can make amends - i.e. a great way to smooth things over, just not right away.

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I'm sure there are more.

All cantrips have their use and purpose but some are more situational than others or need to be combined with other effects to be used to full potential.

I like some of your suggestions, particularly with disguise self.  Several of them won't work however as the spell specifically says it only works on creatures that are not hostile.  It would be more useful if you could use it on enemies.

Quote from Unruly_Cow >>

I like some of your suggestions, particularly with disguise self.  Several of them won't work however as the spell specifically says it only works on creatures that are not hostile.  It would be more useful if you could use it on enemies.

Ah, my apologies I had glossed over the "not hostile to you" part. I suppose that is difference between Friends and Charm Person.

DM: "No, guys, these goblins are not hostile at all. In fact, they are very friendly."

Player: "Hmm. That won't do....Oh. That's their leader? I cast friends on him."

DM: "..."

1 minute of in-game time later:

DM (sighing): "Okay, their leader is now hostile."

Players: "Yay! We attack!"

/s

However, Friends can be a good way to provoke someone, depending on your table's agreement on what hostile means. Maybe you want to cause a fight for a distraction, or know that the guy you are about to have an archery contest with has a hard time shooting accurately when angry.

As has already been mentioned, combining Friends with Disguise Self (or any other shapeshifting feature) can be quite good.

Quote from Chrominator >>

DM: "No, guys, these goblins are not hostile at all. In fact, they are very friendly."

Player: "Hmm. That won't do....Oh. That's their leader? I cast friends on him."

DM: "..."

1 minute of in-game time later:

DM (sighing): "Okay, their leader is now hostile."

Players: "Yay! We attack!"

/s

However, Friends can be a good way to provoke someone, depending on your table's agreement on what hostile means. Maybe you want to cause a fight for a distraction, or know that the guy you are about to have an archery contest with has a hard time shooting accurately when angry.

As has already been mentioned, combining Friends with Disguise Self (or any other shapeshifting feature) can be quite good.

 That is actually an interesting take on the spell.  I mean especially in a public situation (bar, event et al) you buddy up with someone to ge them to do something and then allow things to go south and suddenly they are very pissed at you as they become your distraction while the local constabulary escort them off premises.

Using the Friends cantrip along with the Hat of Disguise or the Mask of Many Faces Invocation is a pretty standard tactic. That said?  Its only Advantage, which is actually a pretty crappy benefit when all is said and done.  You can get the same benefit from another party member using the Help action. 

The idea of one minute faux Charm, then hate, is actually pretty solid.  Lots of ways to take advantage of the concept. The real problem is that advantage is too easy to generate. Now, if the DM treated it like a 1 minute Charmed condition, that would be better, because it promises no attacking for that minute either.  

This spell is a lot like True Strike. On paper, it sounds good. In execution, there are often better ways of getting the same effect without using up a precious cantrip spot.  

There can be a lot of fun to be had between players too, especially if you're looking to trade and are being met with resistance. 

I like using it at the negotiation table...when I WANT things to go badly!

That said, I consider it most useful during interrogation because the subject might hate you when you're done anyway. However, as has also been said, getting Advantage on a task takes one other party member and the phrase 'I use Help'

My group used Friends to find out where someone was hiding one of the artefacts in Curse of Strahd. The town was on a cliff over the ocean, so we managed to properly eliminate any chance of repurcussions, though we could have easily done a nonlethal approach involving rope and his desk chair, or a Sleep spell.

Basically, you use Friends when you have an enemy that isn't hostile and need to get something from them. You can't kill them, not immediately, but you might not have to. You have to have a plan where you can get rid of them when you're done with them, like leading a pickpocket to the guard, or some similar effect.

Stop using Friends on people you actually want to be your friends.

It wouldn't be a way to prove innocence in a social situation. Everyone seems to forget that most spells have verbal and somatic components that make it very obvious you are casting a spell. When a person turns hostile toward you most sane people would accuse you (correctly) of casting a spell to effect the person.

It's also useful for non-critical NPCs you expect never to see again, but don't want to risk an immediate altercation with. For example, charm your way out of paying a passage fee at a gate and then make your way past before the spell lapses; or convince someone to give you what you want rather than get caught doing Sleight of Hand, which will draw an immediate call for the guards (instead of a one-minute lead time). Convince a mob boss to release his hostage before he considers you a real threat, then kill him and his cronies without risking the hostage. Or just get good rates with a merchant and thumb your nose at them after hands are shaken. It's probably not a consistently good cantrip for a Lawful Good character.

A Sorcerer can use Friends with Subtle Spell to chat advantageously with one person without drawing attention. If they go hostile after the time elapses, his friends won't know why and you can slip away while they try to hold him back.

It may still seem a bit niche, but it's still a more useful cantrip than Blade Ward or True Strike.

Friends is the cantrip you use when you don't have any actual friends who could assist you to give advantage.

(Also, don't diss on Blade Ward, it can actually be useful when you know you have to trigger certain (weapon-like) traps.)

I love and hate this cantrip, mostly because I have a wizard in one of my campaigns who actively tries to derail and destroy the storyline, much the the chagrin of everybody else. For example, when tasked with investigating a home who's owner had not been seen in some time, after finding it empty, he insisted on burning it to the ground. Even after our Monk pinned him to the ground, and the NPC spellcaster counter spelled their first attempt, they rolled well and blew up the house, lighting the entire town on fire and causing the entire story to be derailed as the wizard is now seen as a Terrorist within the town that the entire storyline takes place in. This cantrip makes that sort of play style laughably easy. So my vote is there are very specific times when this cantrip is useful, so I wouldn't suggest it for any spell list except for someone like a Wizard who could prepare it one day and be rid of it the next, or for someone capable of shape shifting or disguises. 

Cast it on guard, tell him to open the door. Run through the door and don’t stop running. Profit.

Quote from Nagog >>

I wouldn't suggest it for any spell list except for someone like a Wizard who could prepare it one day and be rid of it the next,

 Off-topic, but cantrips are a pretty permanent choice.

Spellbook

At 1st level, you have a spellbook containing six 1st-level wizard spells of your choice. Your spellbook is the repository of the wizard spells you know, except your cantrips, which are fixed in your mind.

Quote from Cyb3rM1nd >>

Disguise Self.

Cast Friends on merchant.

Use advantage on charisma checks for nice Persuasion rolls for haggling and discounts.

Leave with items.

Drop disguise self and watch as the merchant gets mad at somebody who doesn't exist.

--

Disguise Self to imitate somebody you dislike.

Use Friends on their closest allies, family and friends.

Leave and drop disguise and watch as that person's life crumbles to nothing with everyone hating them and them never knowing why.

-

Use Friends for the free advantages and then Modify Memory to make them forget.

-

Level 14 wizard of the school of enchantment. Basically all the benefits of Friends and without them turning hostile.

-

Use friends on an enemy to calm them down and get a truce with advantage on persuasion. Your party basically gets 1 minute to prepare and reposition to continue the combat from a more favourable position.

-

Use friends and persuasion to convince somebody to not run away or put them at ease before your party ambushes and restrains them.

-

Use friends for the advantage to intimidation and while they are afraid of you, you can interrogate briefly or cast a Fear spell - you could discuss with DM that the normal intimidation grants disadvantage on the saving throw. Even when they become hostile they're too frightened to do much about it.

-

Use Friends to lure enemies into traps.

-

If a battle is becoming difficult because the enemy is too strong, use Friends to try and turn that hostile into a non-hostile. You get to go past or run away without risk and get a 1-minute headstart before it wears off and they chase you.

-

If an ally has become hostile and upset with you so much they're not letting you tell your side of things then the spell can be used to more easily have your say and convince them you're using the spell because you need them to listen to you. They'll go back to being hostile and upset after it wears off but they will also still remember what you said and after a while that may sink in and you can make amends - i.e. a great way to smooth things over, just not right away.

-------

I'm sure there are more.

All cantrips have their use and purpose but some are more situational than others or need to be combined with other effects to be used to full potential.

A year later:

Friends does not work with disguise self as both are concentration

I... Had not known of that

Nvm then, carry on!

“Guard, open the prison door.” *runs away* “sucker!!”