D&D 5E As a DM what spell / ability do you find most annoying?

[Horwath]

Prestidigitation! Seriously. I'll describe a harrowing journey, muddy feet, and - I cast prestidigitation and clean myself and the rest of the party! - /sigh

It just pulls me out of the scene and the moment.

Not to mention: fall in freezing water, threat of hypothermia? Dry and warm you clothes. -20°C? Warm your clothes every few minutes. +45°C? Cool your clothes every few minutes.

It may not cook the food for you, but it will make that crushed snake that you overburned on a stick taste like a royal dinner.

 

[ClaytonCross]

I can't say I find anything particularly annoying, but as a DM, I do live in constant fear that my super-villains will be polymorphed into something embarrassing.

Yep, player run into a horde of barbarians. "Defeat our champion and you me go free to go! Fail and we wear your skins!!"

Player 1: Casts polymorph and turns the Champion into a turtle.
Player 2: carful picks it up and puts it their bag of holding.

Party: Well, we will be going now. See you around.

At camp later that evening they pull out and loot the corpse.

 

[StormbringerAUS]

FYI I was running a similar campaign and I found a really neat way to work resurrections etc into the plots. All clerics are banned from casting resurrection except by express permission of the pope-figure. As such, the church holds massive sway over the lives of nobles as if they bring you back you can guarantee that the asking price will be hefty. In fact, leaving money to the church in your will is a very important thing. As once you die, if you have left enough money, the church takes it, then resurrects you. The church, unlike other parties, is allowed to take from your will and keep it, even if you are resurrected.

Good ideas that's the type of thinking I mean, in my campaign and tying it back to the history of 'the BBG' from legend, in a war among the gods (or something similar my players don't know exactly and might read this) the BBG would replace the souls of raised people with the essences of demons. When this was discovered any raised person was not allowed to hold a position of authority. The effect is not guaranteed and but the longer it takes means the more likely it is to happen. This also allowed player characters to be raised quickly so not taking the spell from them. The follow on from this is that assassinations and killing need to be done in public so then a person can't be brought back and under the control of a demon.

This in my campaign is also the origins of Tieflings and Grave Clerics as the defender of the world of the dead, can tell when raising someone if a demon is likely to have usurped the process (not infallible).

So what for me started as an issue has become a great story telling tool.

 

[Rya.Reisender]

All those spells that let the party safely take rests. That kinda makes it hard for me to create reasonable scenarios with limited resting.

 

[Bitbrain]

The following spells from the PHB simply do not exist in my setting:

Create Food and Water
Create or Destroy Water
Darkvision
Feeblemind
Goodberry
Heat Metal
Leomund's Tiny Hut
Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound
Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion
Otto's Irresistable Dance
Wall of Force

EDIT

Yep, player run into a horde of barbarians. "Defeat our champion and you me go free to go! Fail and we wear your skins!!"


Player 1: Casts polymorph and turns the Champion into a turtle.
Player 2: carful picks it up and puts it their bag of holding.


Party: Well, we will be going now. See you around.

*coughs nervously* yes, my old sorcerer tried to do something similar a long time ago.
unfortunately, the game was set in the Forgotten Realms, and the barbarians were all members of an arcane-hating Uthgardt tribe.
They didn't take too kindly to it. Attacked the party en mass and tried (unsuccessfully) to kill me.

 

[Li Shenron]

Uhm... I haven't run 5e nearly as much as I wanted to, but so far the only thing that came up and I hated was the druid's armor restrictions.

 

[DRF]

abc

 

[DRF]

def

 

[Zardnaar]

As much as I love paladins and almost everything about them, I could really do without the saving throw bonus granted by their aura. With a good Charisma, it can come very close to an "everyone saves against everything all the time" button.

And then you have the green paladin.

I would add.

Guidance spam
Shillagh spam
Healer feat
Healer feat on thief

 

[CapnZapp]

My top two plus:

For low level spells, it's Heat Metal. No save, nerf the big bad if he happens to be in metal armor by effectively giving them perma-disadvantage while the caster runs away so their concentration can't be broken.

At higher levels, it would be banish. Fighting an extra-planar creature? No problem, just banish! And while your at it, get some ridiculously high DC and have them save at disadvantage.

Divination spells in general, especially the ones at higher levels. As much as I stress that the gods in my world are not all-powerful and omnipotent, some cleric is sooner or later going to ask to get advice from their deity on exactly where the demi-god powered being is located and exactly how to defeat them. I tell them the gods don't know and the response is a whiny "But Odin sees all!".

Tell them Odin does know, but that he hates talking to whiny people.

Then have Odin tell the divining player that he's in in a bad mood, and cast a DC 30 Geas to go forth and defeat that "demi-god powered being" yourself!

If that doesn't please the PC, or if he attempts to get rid of the Geas, tell him Oden's lightning bolt does 90d6 damage with unlimited range.

Now get off my lawn.