Fun with Mage Hand...

[MojoGM]

Different styles of play, that's all...

I've seen some REAL attempted abuses of that spell.

I once witnessed an argument between a player and a DM where the player INSISTED he could use mage hand to crush the throat of a person like Darth Vader.

"You're lack of faith disturbs me"

Now, THAT I would not have let fly. But as long as the 5lbs of pressure rule is sort of observed, it's all good.

And it was one heck of a moment when that wererat watched his potion float across the room.

 

[yennico]

Different styles of play, that's all...

I've seen some REAL attempted abuses of that spell.

I once witnessed an argument between a player and a DM where the player INSISTED he could use mage hand to crush the throat of a person like Darth Vader.

"You're lack of faith disturbs me"

Rule No. 1: The GM is always right.

All of my wizards PCs (and multiclass rogue/wizards) have this spell, and IMHO this spell is underrated. One party escaped a prosion cell because the keys for the door dangle on a nail in the wall outside the door. My wizard used mage hand to carry the keys inside the cell.

@MojoGM: If you allow the use of Mage Hand to deeds like Djeta described them it is o.k. for your campaign.
I as a GM would not allow such use as Djeta described them.
If I would allow such deeds all wizards can pick pocket non-magical items in combat from their enemies...

I as a PC never abused the mage hand spell in such a way.

Just my 2 cents
yennico

 

[Norfleet]

Well, even if the wizard could attempt to pickpocket items from people using that, it's not stealthy, and the victim would easily be able to see the item floating slowly away, as with a cap of 5 pounds of force, the object isn't going to be able to accelerate off at a really impressive rate of speed, and can easily be halted by an opponent which attempts to restrain the object, which I would rule as a free action that can be taken with any unoccupied manipulative appendage.

There are, of course, other uses of mage hand which are far more common, and unfit for discussion in polite company.

 

[Tsyr]

From a novel, but cool...

An enemy mage was far behind enemy lines, and too powerful to challenge directly, but they needed to disrupt his spellcasting. So a mage scrys on the mage, and sees him in his tent, working magic. In the scrying pool, he sees a dagger sitting on the mages desk, behind him. So the good mage levitates it (With mage hand?), and flings it into his back.

 

[Angcuru]

There are, of course, other uses of mage hand which are far more common, and unfit for discussion in polite company.

Aint it the truth...

But there is ONE very common use for the spell: While in a tavern pinching the butt of the waitress as she walks by the party fighter. *SLAP!*

Redgar - What'd I do?

Mialee - Tee-hee.

 

[krunchyfrogg]

I can see a lot of uses for this spell, if you're a lonely mage, in your own room...

 

[Lord Pendragon]

I have a soft spot for Mage Hand. In a previous campaign, my PC had a magical sword bonded to his soul. Although it was magical and thus technically not subject to Mage Hand, my DM kindly ruled that I could effect the sword (and only the sword) as an exception to the rule. So whenever the PC was disarmed, he could take a 5' step and call for his weapon, ala Luke and his lightsaber.

 

[Zhure]

Well first welcome to the board, and congrats on your first post!

While I have never actually done this, it is a use I can see. Fighter gets disarmed of his Longsword during combat and it gets thrown from him. Kind mage uses mage hand to lift said longsword(4 lbs) and return it to the fighter so he doesn't have to move to get it.

I've seen that done with an Unseen Servant. It has a better lifting capacity and a constant duration not requiring concentration and can be given orders in advance.

"If the half-orc knocks someone's weapon out of their hands, you bring it back to me, and stay within range of me at all times."
Greg

 

[Enceladus]

As a mage/thief back in the old days I used mage hand and far sight to pick locks from a distance if I suspected I failed to find any traps, so if I tripped a trap it would go off with me a safe distance away.

 

[drakhe]

Prestidigation fun

One of my favorites is prestidigation: at one time (being first or second level sorcerer at the time) our party is ambushed by a band of goblins. With some enormously lucky dice rolling I can get myself out of the picture and into hiding near the 3 archers covering the rest of the party. I then used prestidigation to annoy the hell out of those three archers with any small magical feat I could imagine (and that the DM accepted ;-) ) they ended up killing each other, giving the rest of the party time to deal with the rest of the band without fear of beeing shot down