Ok, I'm looking for creative and non-standard uses for D&D Spells... really off-the-wall stuff!!

***BUT***

Here are the caveats...

1. Officially published spells only... no homebrew
2. Interpretation must be governed by Rules As Written

Here's an example... a small, tabbed notebook with separate Glyphs of Warding (Spell Glyph) on each page (the tabs provide quick access.) Buff spells are "inserted" into each Glyph... when the bearer opens to the appropriate page and views the Glyph, they receive the beneficial spell. Additional bonus... concentration spells (Barkskin, Bless, etc.) don't require concentration as the Glyph maintains the spell for it's duration!

Spell Glyph. You can store a prepared spell of 3rd level or lower in the glyph by casting it as part of creating the glyph. The spell must target a single creature or an area. The spell being stored has no immediate effect when cast in this way. When the glyph is triggered, the stored spell is cast. If the spell has a target, it targets the creature that triggered the glyph. If the spell affects an area, the area is centered on that creature. If the spell summons hostile creatures or creates harmful objects or traps, they appear as close as possible to the intruder and attack it. If the spell requires concentration, it lasts until the end of its full duration.   

Ok, now it's your turn!! What amazing & clever spell uses have you seen or thought of?

That would be nice if you could actually move the book - but with Glyph of Warding you can't.

 If the surface or object is moved more than 10 feet from where you cast this spell, the glyph is broken, and the spell ends without being triggered.

Thanks for pointing that out, as the goal of the intellectual exercise is to adhere to RAW... so this first example would be used by a villain when encountered in his lair by the PCs.

 One of my favorites is using Message to harass and spook enemies.  Creep up under stealth and use Message to whisper menacing or haunting words in an enemy's ears from the safety of cover and concealment.  Since it's a cantrip, you can do it until they crack, and since the words simply appear from space in the target's ears, they can't determine a direction.  Some DMs may rule that using the spell breaks your stealth, but I can't actually find any passage in the PHB right now which states a spell automatically breaks stealth even if it's a sneaky spell like Message.

So I suppose the RAW legality is potentially questionable, but I've done it in my own games.  It's kind of awesome being able to Batman a band of orcs into flipping shits and potentially even attacking each other with a few minutes of whispering Infernal into their ears from a hundred feet away in the shrubbery.

Quote from Emmber >>

That would be nice if you could actually move the book - but with Glyph of Warding you can't.

 If the surface or object is moved more than 10 feet from where you cast this spell, the glyph is broken, and the spell ends without being triggered.

Oh thank God. Did that actually get an errata? I know people loved to abuse that spell.

Using Alarm to allow the party to communicate over long distances (up to 1 mile) is good, if you have the need and time to split the party and set up an ambush, or leave some people on lookout while the rest of the party is somewhere else. It isn't concentration, doesn't undo itself on a second casting, and can be performed as a ritual without a spell slot, so if you have an hour or so to set up you can easily create four or five "buttons" that party members can push to send psychic alarms to you, or auditory alarms to everyone within 60 feet. It does require an area instead of an object, so unfortunately the buttons aren't mobile for a moving plan, but still can be kind of useful. You could probably even set up one guard with  multiple buttons (press this alarm if you see the guards approaching, or press that alarm if you see the mayor coming back to his house), because as the caster you should be able to tell which of your spells has been triggered. 

Using Find Familiar Familiars in combat to take the Help action is pretty well known, but Familiars are pretty easy for a DM to rub out with a single attack if they choose to, a little expensive for a low level character to constantly replace, and may carry an emotional attachment. Unseen Servant creates something much less cute, which doesn't carry a gold cost, which is harder to hit (it's invisible, despite its low AC), and it should be able to still take the Help action so long as you can describe to your DM how a non-aggressive force with Strength 2 could accomplish that ("Unseen Servant, remove the necromancer's boots for him, and don't take no for an answer!"). It also lasts for an hour, so you can cast it as a ritual before a fight without wasting resources. 

Quote from Emmber >>

That would be nice if you could actually move the book - but with Glyph of Warding you can't.

 If the surface or object is moved more than 10 feet from where you cast this spell, the glyph is broken, and the spell ends without being triggered.

 So Glyph of Warding wouldn’t work in a floating castle. If the castle moves the glyph is broken.

And If your world orbits the sun? 

This is why DM’s hate rules lawyer players, right?

RAW Unseen Servant cannot use the Help action; it can only move and interact with objects.

I like the idea and would probably allow it under certain circumstances, but if we're aiming for strictly RAW then that wouldn't work.

Unseen Servant and caltrops. That works, right?

Quote from Jaysburn >>

RAW Unseen Servant cannot use the Help action; it can only move and interact with objects.

I like the idea and would probably allow it under certain circumstances, but if we're aiming for strictly RAW then that wouldn't work.

 It is interacting with an object (boots). Doesn't say those objects can't be worn or in the space of a creature? The example provided in the spell is "anything a human servant could do... such as serving food or pouring wine," which are examples of interacting with objects that might be held by a creature. But you're right, plenty of wiggle room there for a DM that doesn't like the idea of weaponizing the spell to say that worn objects aren't allowed, so you may have to come up with some other well-intentioned bumbling. Help doesn't explicitly require you to interact with a creature, only "You feint, distract the target, or in some other way team up to make your ally's attack more effective." So there's a lot of room to distract even with "no touching!" enforced. 

Absolutely.  Unseen Servant is a great way to have pseudo-telekinesis.  It has a strength of 2, so it can lift up to 30 pounds and push/drag up to 60.  Roll some oil barrels down some stairs little buddy!

@Chicken_Champ That's kiiinda pushing it, but a fair assessment.  I'm mostly going off the fact that Find Familiar states that the Familiar can do all normal actions besides attack, whereas Unseen Servant only says interact with objects, which in my mind would specifically mean the [Tooltip Not Found] action.  Not directly stated though, so up to DM discretion, but I still doubt that using it to take the Help action is the RAI.

Edit:  There's also the fact that it doesn't get an action; you are using your bonus action to cause it to interact with an object.  So technically, it's not taking the [Tooltip Not Found] action, and can't use Help either because it's not actually taking an Action.

I’ve always thought that Unseen Servant and a bullseye lantern made for some interesting possibilities. You can stay in the dark and spotlight the bad guys.

That's actually a pretty good point. So they can manipulate actions (using your Bonus Action, and then continuing until it feels its done), but isn't specifically doing Use an Object or Help. Its puttering may or may not create a scenario that the DM decides gives the players advantage or the enemy disadvantage, but the mechanics of the Help Action aren't what is creating that. 

I can live with that. 

Indeed.  Could certainly allow for some fun stuff with a bit of creativity.  Have it drop a bucket onto an enemies head from above to blind them until they remove it.

... Can Unseen Servants fly?  You have to create them on the ground, but it doesn't specify what their movement actually is beyond you being able to "move them 15 feet."  I would say they can fly, and commanding them to "keep picking crap up and dropping it on this guy's head" seems like it could simulate the Help action well enough, though with only 15 feet movement probably not every round.  Using one while fighting in a room that has banners on the walls could be hilarious.

So my Swords Bard has the True Strike cantrip. I know, I know, waste of an action to cast, right? But hear me out, he's going to open a dueling school and use it to teach. 

"As he stared out over the students flailing away at each other, Fiego Laurentis de Gryphon pointed a finger at one particularly clumsy student. 

'You there! Pony tail! Your stance is all wrong and you have left yourself wide open trying to recover from that so called lunge. Any opponent with eyes would take advantage. Like so!'

The half elf darted forward, appearing to the girl's left before she could take a breath and tapping her with his wooden stick. It was a gentle tap, but it was right over the big vein in her leg. 

'And you are dead,' he said, eyebrows arched coyly."

Does using Hunger of Hadar for audiences' entertainment during magic shows count?

At high levels, Glyphs of warding cast inside a demiplane for some buffs are super OP, and worth it!

I love to use Shape Water to open locks.

Step 1: have a waterskin ready and cast Shape Water to get the water inside a lock (door, chest, whatever)

Step 2: Turn the water to ice

Result: Instant key :D

My druid used this in my current campaign on a small box where we weren't sure if it was trapped. My DM loved it. :D

I love Shape Water, and that's a great use! Shape Water + Tavern Brawler can be fun too, to create yourself swords made of ice that actually work, or throw ice javelins, or whatever.