D&D 5E Command Words

[Shiroiken]

My personal favorite, especially as DM, is "defecate"

 

[jgsugden]

As a DM, I always put myself into the shoes of the listener and determine what they think the command means, and then have them follow it if they fail the saving throw. When a PC is impacted, I ask the player what they think the command is meant to require, and then ask them to do that thing. If the player metagames and lies about what they think the intent was (IMO), then they can expect some karma to come their way down the road.

 

[Undrave]

*Why is it that some DMs seem to hate PCs in heavy armor and go out of their way to screw them over? This is a trend I've seen in public games.

I think it's because they think that if the PC isn't taking damage it's not fair? Or they don't get that characters who invest in heavy armor and choose class with those porificiencies should get to not be hit from time to time because they spent opportunity on that! If I pick a Fighter and don't go for a DEX build, forgo a higher damage weapon to carry a shield and spend good money on plates, I don't expect to be punished for my investment the same way not every friggin' monster a Caster targets happens to have Legendary Resistance!

 

[doctorbadwolf]

In Eberron, there are legalese words that have been part of Galifaran Common for hundreds of years, that mean fairly specific stuff. They are known in meaning to everyone on Khorvaire who speaks common, and are explained in full as part of arrests and before testimony is given in courts.
I don’t actually have real words bc I’m lazy, I just describe what the word means. They also aren’t really helpful in a fight. Stuff like “tell the judge everything you know about the case, honestly and thoroughly.” is very useful in a court, though.

 

[Lanefan]

To the above list, feel free to add:

Sit
Stay
Fetch (throw something)
Freeze
Kneel
Clap (if target is carrying something you'd rather it drop)
Disrobe
Drink (toss target a vial of some unpleasant liquid if none already nearby)
Swim (if on a boat or near water)
Breathe (rare: if target is for some reason trying to hold its breath)

 

[Todd Roybark]

Vomit (swallowed characters)

I've never thought of this use of the Command spell for swallowed characters.
The trick is how to make the purple worm understand you.

My personal favorite, especially as DM, is "defecate"

Does that make you a crappy DM?
Or Just the !

....(intended as humor, does not contain insults)

 

[Todd Roybark]

Stuff like “tell the judge everything you know about the case, honestly and thoroughly.” is very useful in a court, though

Testify!

 

[aco175]

I agree with words like jump having loopholes. The point of the spell is that the target would not deliberately harm himself knowingly. Just using command and pointing to the edge of the ship would not make the target willingly jump overboard. Use it on the PCs and they would just jump in place, should be same on the monsters.

We used to use this a lot in 2e and it mostly came down to only a few command words.

There was also a big discussion on if you needed to know the language to target monsters. There was discussion on real world languages and how many words in non-english languages we knew. Then we went over if your life depended on knowing a few words in orc or giant and if you would know a handful of words. In the end we let a handful of words target most monsters with languages but limited it to the most common 10 or so. Something like Aquan or bullywug croaking was out.

 

[Mistwell]

Disrobe is also my favorite, @Lanefan

 

[Eltab]

(If your group uses Drunkenness rules, toss over a bottle of vodka, gin, &c)
Drink !

(Toss over Sleeping Beauty's magical apple)
Feast !