D&D 5E Abusing spells limited only by creativity

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MakerCaker

First Post

• Oct 1, 2017

• #1

You know those spells like minor illusion and wish that are limited only by your creativity? Well, how do you get the most out of them? I'd love to see your ideas. For example, with minor illusion you could create a really, really, thin length of illusory wall that goes on for miles, and it would technically be 5 square feet because the wall the illusion is depicting is so thin. But we're not just talking about those two spells here. We're talking about every spell that is limited only by your creativity, like mage hand and mending. Please post your ideas in the comments below. Thanks!

 

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Cap'n Kobold

Hero

• Oct 1, 2017

• #2

Most depend upon DM fiat to be able to abuse. Very few DMs would allow minor illusion to create something that has dimensions greater than a 5ft cube and that exceeds the 30ft range of the spell for example.

The most common and effective use I've got out of Minor Illusion was as a distraction: making footsteps or the sound of a sword being drawn appear from elsewhere.

Mold Earth has been very useful: given time you can create tunnels, undermine walls, create graves and suchlike. It can be terrain-dependent though.

 

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Seramus

Hero

• Oct 1, 2017

• #3

I'm fond of using the Silent Image from the Warlock Invocation to create the appearance of multiple people, all overlapping somewhat so it still counts as a single image. This is effectively a discount Mirror Image that you can recast every single round. The enemy has to pick the right person to attack and potentially waste their action, or spend an action trying to figure out which one is the real person.

But the most hilarious and silly 'abuse' is probably Minor Conjuration, from the Conjuration Specialty, creating GP costing spell components.

 

Fanaelialae

Legend

• Oct 1, 2017

• #4

This isn't creative in itself, although I'm certain one could find creative uses for it. One of the most potentially abusable spells IMO is Simulacrum. This requires a caster of at least 17th level who can cast Wish and a caster who can cast Simulacrum (or Wish, if you have two casters who can cast Wish).

1) Create a simulacrum of the 17th level wizard using Simulacrum (or Wish, if you have a second caster capable of doing so).
2) Have the simulacrum create another simulacrum of the 17th level Wizard by casting Wish.
3) Have the new simulacrum create another simulacrum. Repeat.

You now have an inexhaustible supply of high level wizards, get as creative with that as you will (Council of Ricks?).

As has been stated above, this is highly contingent on the DM allowing such shenanigans (I wouldn't), so caveat emptor.


For an actual creative use, one time the party was ambushed by vampire brigands in a dense forest during the day. They grappled one of the PCs. The low level caster had no spells that would harm a vampire, so she used silent image to make it seem like the canopy had been parted just enough for a beam of sunlight to touch the vampire's hand. The vampire failed its save and recoiled, freeing the grappled PC.

Unfortunately, the rest of the party still died, but it was clever IMO.

 

Croesus

Adventurer

• Oct 1, 2017

• #5

MakerCaker said:

For example, with minor illusion you could create a really, really, thin length of illusory wall that goes on for miles, and it would technically be 5 square feet because the wall the illusion is depicting is so thin.

Click to expand...

Minor Illusion
Illusion cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: S, M (a bit of fleece)
Duration: 1 minute

You create a sound or an image of an object within range that lasts for the duration. The illusion also ends if you dismiss it as an action or cast this spell again.

If you create a sound, its volume can range from a whisper to a scream. It can be your voice, someone else’s voice, a lion’s roar, a beating of drums, or any other sound you choose. The sound continues unabated throughout the duration, or you can make discrete sounds at different times before the spell ends.

If you create an image of an object—such as a chair, muddy footprints, or a small chest—it must be no larger than a 5-foot cube. The image can’t create sound, light, smell, or any other sensory effect. Physical interaction with the image reveals it to be an illusion, because things can pass through it.

If a creature uses its action to examine the sound or image, the creature can determine that it is an illusion with a successful Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC. If a creature discerns the illusion for what it is, the illusion becomes faint to the creature.


You're misreading the spell. It doesn't say "5 cubic feet", it says "5-foot cube", which is limited to 5' on each side. So no, you can't create an ultra-thin wall that spans miles. There are imaginative uses for the spell, but not the one you suggest.

BTW, though your example doesn't work RAW, this is a good idea for a thread. Looking forward the ideas posted.

 

Last edited: Oct 1, 2017

FrogReaver

As long as i get to be the frog

• Oct 1, 2017

• #6

Here is the deal. Minor illusion won't do much because its free and no DM is going to let a free spell do anything consistently that is stronger than an actual spell slot requiring spell can do. It's a great spell to create distractions. I can't find many other uses for it as it's pretty restricted as written.

One use I've found (depending on exact ruling) and it's not particularly strong by any means is creating the image of a large rock and then moving inside that image with my gnome wizard. Or I can just cast the large rock image around myself.

 

Eltab

Lord of the Hidden Layer

• Oct 1, 2017

• #7

While you are alone, cast an image of a large pillar holding up the ceiling. Have the Assassin/Rogue step inside the space "occupied" by the pillar. When the enemy comes out, he gets one surprise attack because the enemy doesn't know he is there. (Doesn't work if you are in the enemies' base and they know that no pillar should be there.)

Use Message to communicate with somebody who is spying on you. Send him false information as if his real spy/ally is helping him, or just tell him "I see you outside that window, and I know what you are up to."

False Image yourself to look like the enemy Boss, and walk around the dungeon "checking to make sure everything is secure." Now you know the enemy's strength and dispositions.

 

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iamntbatman

First Post

• Oct 1, 2017

• #8

In my last session, we had a horde of fungal zombie-like creatures chasing us through a system of mines and caves. Got a ton of use out of Minor Illusion. We crossed a five foot wide, very sturdy wooden bridge, and I cast Minor Illusion on a five foot square of planks behind us to make them look completely rotted. Slowed the mushroom guys enough to get a few rounds of dashing ahead of them. Used it again to create illusory rocks blocking small tunnels we went through, or the sounds of our footsteps leading in the wrong direction, etc.

 

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MakerCaker

First Post

• Oct 1, 2017

• #9

Some great ideas, guys! Thanks! I'm hoping to make this a massive thread.

 

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Nevvur

Explorer

• Oct 1, 2017

• #10

I'm not sure it qualifies as a "creative use" since it's suggested right in the spell description, but I've had players use Minor Illusion to fake a voice to good effect. One good example involved the party overhearing a pair of guards conversing. The party attacked and killed them without causing too noisy a scuffle, but loud enough to draw the attention of another guard down the hall. They heard him call out something like "What was that? Everything okay?" and the bard replied in the guard's voice, "Just horsin' around, sorry!"

Gave her a Charisma (deception) check with advantage, she succeeded, and the patroller continued on his way, allowing the PCs to resume their infiltration.

I had another bard who liked to use Phantasmal Force to conduct interrogations. He never used it to cause damage in these cases, just wanted to scare the crap out of them.