D&D 5E Is Druidcraft useful?

[Wepwawet]

What are your thoughts on this Druid spell? In which situations has it come up in your games?

It's very colourful but seems it's mostly useless...
Like, weather forecast is cute but if you need to go adventuring you don't let the weather stop you, also, how often does weather come up in D&D? The sensory effect bit, is basically the same as throwing a stick into some bushes. And then there's the magic lighter (which is cool) and making a flower blossom or a pod open (very sweet)

Feels like the cheap version of Thaumaturgy...

What do you guys think?

 

[Evenglare]

Weather is a very very serious part of my world. Cute wouldn't describe weather forecasting more like most important aspect of a character is how I would describe it. But it just all depends on where you are adventuring I guess.

 

[Paraxis]

Yeah it is kinda lame, I would adjust it so that it can do a lot of what thaumaturgy and prestidigitation can do with just a natural plant/weather/elemental theme.

I could see it protection one person from getting wet during a rainstorm, or make a small cloud to keep the direct sun off of a creature stuff like that.

 

[thalmin]

The sound of a rattlesnake right behind someone could be very distracting!

 

[Henrix]

As one of two cantrips a druid gets - no.

I'm thinking about giving it for free to druids, because of the colour. It won't break the game.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

As one of two cantrips a druid gets - no.

I'm thinking about giving it for free to druids, because of the colour. It won't break the game.

that is a real problem with the base game, there are a lot of good options, but this one is flavorful... so with only getting 2 to start do you take good or flavor (in a perfect game the good ones are also the flavor)... but by the time you get 4 you can easily have this...

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Yes, I would give it for free to Druids - it doesn't break game balance and it brings color to the game.

 

[ranger69]

Whether or not Druidcraft is given free or not it can be a useful cantrip as thalmin demonstrated above. It is one of those sneaky spells that often don't seem useful, then you find lots of applications in game.
Being able to instantly light, or snuff out a small flame can be very useful.

 

[the Jester]

In general, druidcraft is a cool spell, and not everything the pcs do is combat-oriented.

What are your thoughts on this Druid spell? In which situations has it come up in your games?

It's very colourful but seems it's mostly useless...
Like, weather forecast is cute but if you need to go adventuring you don't let the weather stop you...

Have you ever marched across boggy terrain with no roads while carrying a full 60 lb. pack (and wearing armor!) in the rain? For days?

Have you ever marched through a snowstorm on a mountainside path?

Have you ever worn all metal garb during a desert heat wave?

Weather can be, and is, in my game, a very significant factor. Heck, a lot of the time, creatures just hunker down for the winter (25% of the year!!) and stay at home.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that, because our modern world includes things like cars with climate-controlled interiors and good roads and easy access to cold weather gear that the hazards of bad weather aren't there. We're just spoiled and able to duck out of it when we want. Oh, it's 10 degrees below freezing? Turn on the heater! Oh, a driving rain? Duck under this overhang and/or get indoors, with your nicely sealed roof. To a character in a typical D&D world, it's probably more like, "It's 10 below freezing! Find dry wood and build a fire or we freeze to death!" Or maybe, "Driving rain? Crap, we need six buckets for all the leaks!" There is no heater, there's no air conditioning. Heat waves kill people every year when we do have those things.

So if the adventurers need to cross 80 miles of trackless wilderness to reach the dungeon site, and there's a blizzard, they're frankly likely to get lost, never find their way and die en route.

Now, some DMs ignore the weather, but not all. Not me.

 

[ephemeron]

Druids have a long tradition of being more situationally useful than other classes -- they just aren't going to shine in all environments.

But that said, giving Druidcraft free makes sense. And I could see giving starting clerics Thaumaturgy plus two cantrips of the player's choice, for the same reason -- Druidcraft and Thaumaturgy enable so many, well, druid-y and cleric-y things that not having them almost requires explanation.