Prestidigitation: What can it really do?

[Draz74]

Yeah, I think the biggest use of Prestidigitation really is just that your party -- despite their lifestyle of sleeping in mud or dungeon slime, carrying around oiled weapons and armor and alchemical nastiness, and getting covered regularly in blood and guts -- will smell nicer than most of the population around them.

And have better hygiene in general. Toilet paper wasn't a big thing in medieval times ... outhouses become much more sanitary when Prestidigitation is involved.

For these reasons, I can't imagine that every noble who could afford one wouldn't spend 1800 gp on an at-will command item of Prestidigitation. Its other uses (cleaning the castle up easily without a maid, making food taste better, random ability to make things funny colors for artistic decoration) are just perks.

Hmm, what are the Easy Metamagic prereqs? I remember *something* working at level 1. I guess it's that or take ... shoot, was it Precocious Apprentice? The one that gives you a second level slot, Fell Drain, and ... I dunno, a flaw for Versatile Spellcaster. That should do it.

I think Easy Metamagic is the one that works, but I'm not sure; I don't pay much attention to metamagic reducer cheese.

[Piggy Knowles]

And have better hygiene in general. Toilet paper wasn't a big thing in medieval times ... outhouses become much more sanitary when Prestidigitation is involved.

Yikes. If apprentice wizards all have to put in time volunteering in outhouses, maybe I finally understand why so many people decide to become fighters instead...

[tyckspoon]

I think Easy Metamagic is the one that works, but I'm not sure; I don't pay much attention to metamagic reducer cheese.

Metamagic School Focus will also work if you don't have access to Dragon material, although only 3/day (or on 3 prepped spells.) If you're using retraining or have access to Psychic Reformation it's a good starter until you can use more general or unrestricted reducers.

[TwylyghT]

I've had this idea in my head for a long time now about a bard that uses prestidigitation as his Perform skill. Like a stage magician and whatnot. I wonder if that's feasible.

At the very least, have an oboe that projects a continuous prestidigitation or minor image, and take ranks in Perform(holophonor)

[Geigan]

I believe the trick was easy metamagic(fell drain)+fell drain+sonic snap for a 1st level instakill on any human/other bonus feat race wizard(at least for single HD creatures).

Prestidigitation is useful sneaking around for brief distractions. Also keeping clean, or soiling pranks. I was once in a party where I used prestidigitation after being seen once by the town guard to change the color of my skin, hair, clothes, etc, doing the same for my paladin as well as soiling his shiny armor. Snuck around right under there noses. Almost as good as disguise self.

[Yuki Akuma]

I've had this idea in my head for a long time now about a bard that uses prestidigitation as his Perform skill. Like a stage magician and whatnot. I wonder if that's feasible.

Isn't prestidigitation (as in, mundane 'illusions) explicitly the domain of the Sleight of Hand skill?

[Xtomjames]

Prestidigitation is one of those spells that you don't think of as being affective, but can be very useful if used creatively.

For example, with it you gain for an hour 1 lb telekinesis. You can set a candle or other flammable item on fire causing normal fire damage (including clothes, candles, oil, wicks, etc) and because you're not causing direct damage with it, it doesn't break the rules of the spell.

Torture is easy, especially mental torture. You could life one lb of water out of a bucket and force it around a helpless creature's head basically doing magical water boarding. You could create dancing light orbs that float around their head unrelentingly, or create music that the person detests.

In a maze situation you could lead people astray by setting up sound and corner of the eye images with it (floating light orb again) to draw them into traps. The possibilities are fairly limited but still there.

Isn't prestidigitation (as in, mundane 'illusions) explicitly the domain of the Sleight of Hand skill?

No, it's a spell page 264 of the PHB. However in real life I suppose yes you'd be correct if we had the "sleight of hand" skill to roll for (rather than it being a matter of practice).

[Yuki Akuma]

No, it's a spell page 264 of the PHB. However in real life I suppose yes you'd be correct if we had the "sleight of hand" skill to roll for (rather than it being a matter of practice).

...

I know it's a spell. :|

But card tricks and making doves 'appear' from your sleeves, without magic, is also called 'prestidigitation', and is exlicitely not Perform.

[Slipperychicken]

I've had this idea in my head for a long time now about a bard that uses prestidigitation as his Perform skill. Like a stage magician and whatnot. I wonder if that's feasible.

It would make a lot of sense to have prestidigitation give a bonus on Sleight of Hand performances. If you want the mechanics to seem more flavorful (not an uncommon sentiment around here), you can call it Perform(Stage Magician) or Perform(Magical Entertainment). Totally feasible, just ask your GM.

[QuidEst]

Isnt there something about it affecting weight. Therefore you can a massive amount of air turn any colour effectively creating non magical blindness at level 1 whenever you want.

1) The rules for Prestidigitation actually state that it can't duplicate any other spell effects. Blinding somebody (even temporarily) could fall under that, depending on the DM's ruling.
2) You can change the color all you want- air molecules are so loosely packed that you will at best get a fog. Which would be a more direct spell copy

I would have a blank mask, and use Prestidigitation to change the colors, switching between roles for a play. You can change the color of somebody's face to make them blush or flush with anger- handy in court intrigues. You can make prison food bearable, and fine cuisine a little… off for an enemy (or to get the cook in trouble). You can reheat your dinner, or chill a bit of metal to touch against somebody's neck.

Perform(blah) can include magic tricks, etc. for the purposes of making money, so there's not much reason it couldn't be that way in general.

[Bhaakon]

Make your opponent's tears taste like pure capsicum.

[QuidEst]

If it's magically made to taste like that, I don't know that you'd actually burn their eyes. Using Prestidigitation is more fun if you can get something really in its spirit- for me at least. XP The thing I love about it is the freedom you have- one hour per cast of doing a bunch of little things.

[mootoall]

1) The rules for Prestidigitation actually state that it can't duplicate any other spell effects. Blinding somebody (even temporarily) could fall under that, depending on the DM's ruling.
2) You can change the color all you want- air molecules are so loosely packed that you will at best get a fog. Which would be a more direct spell copy

Then move one pound of air (lots and lots of volume) away from a person's square, and start them suffocating.

[Drachasor]

1) The rules for Prestidigitation actually state that it can't duplicate any other spell effects. Blinding somebody (even temporarily) could fall under that, depending on the DM's ruling.

The thing it says it CAN do could fall under that, depending on the DM's ruling. I'd say it is probably best to largely ignore that line as a matter of practice.

[hawkingbird]

1) The rules for Prestidigitation actually state that it can't duplicate any other spell effects. Blinding somebody (even temporarily) could fall under that, depending on the DM's ruling.
2) You can change the color all you want- air molecules are so loosely packed that you will at best get a fog. Which would be a more direct spell copy

Unfortunately you're further limited to a 1 ft cube
So it would be a very small volume of coloured fog

[NNescio]

Then move one pound of air (lots and lots of volume) away from a person's square, and start them suffocating.

...slowly lift 1 pound of material...

All you would do is to create a mild breeze. Bear in mind that any movement of air will cause air from other places to move as well. This is how a fan works, after all.

[Dalebert]

Then move one pound of air (lots and lots of volume) away from a person's square, and start them suffocating.

Okay, so you moved about 400 cubic feet of air, give or take depending on pressure and temperature. How are you keeping surrounding air from naturally flowing in to replace the air that moved away? Oh, this was a joke. I've ruined the joke by explaining it.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

In Pathfinder, you can make a decent amount of money as a clothes washer with Prestidigitation: the cost of cleaning it is 1 gp per outfit, compared to the normal few silver. And, you do it faster; the trouble is finding customers. If you have a stringent DM that would disallow bodily cleaning (since it only cleans 'objects' per the spell definition), take a wash rag with you, clean using that, and prestidigitize the rag clean ever few minutes.

[Segev]

Interestingly, Prestidigitation cannot purify water, but it can "clean" it. So it could take dirty water and make it clean enough for washing with, but not make it potable. (This isn't entirely nonsensical, but it is interesting.)

[Dalebert]

I home-brewed an item in my game that does that. It's a small towel with nice embroidery. When you snap it, it cleans itself and becomes moist with mildly soapy water. When you wring it out, it magically cleans and dries itself. The PCs have found multiples of these as they're fairly common amongst the wealthy. I'm not sure expensive bathing services would be that popular when wealthy people can buy magic items to do the same forever.

I've made an attempt to fill in what seem like gaps in spells and magic items (mostly items) for practical things that wealthy people would want magic for. For instance, I also made a magic chamber pot / trash can that disposes of small things put into it. Unfortunately, the way it does that is by teleporting it 100 ft away in a random direction.

[Sartharina]

Make your opponent's tears taste like pure capsicum.

You can't do that, because the 'flavor' of Capsicum isn't a flavor, but an intense body reaction. At best, you'd get something annoyingly bitter.

[Chronos]

Note: "Capsicum" is the name of the fruit, also sometimes called a "pepper" or a "chili" (any of which terms include non-spicy varieties such as bell). "Capsaicin" is the name of the chemical found in many capsicums which makes them spicy, at least as perceived by mammals.