Mage Hand Overkill

[Darklone]

Welcome to our new thread under the header: "How to drive my DM crazy with 0lvl-spells?"

This weeks favorite: Mage Hand.

• Have you ever readied a Mage Hand to throw an alchemists fire back at the guy who burned half your group?
• Have you ever readied a Mage Hand to pick up a small plate or something like to and block an incoming fireball (preferably between the enemy's allies)?
• Have you ever used Mage Hand to pick up the crossbow bolt before your enemy shot you?

More ideas welcome. As well as criticism if those things work.

 

[Geo]

that brings up a good point, can you intercept a fireball coming at you, and does it detonate when you do? I would guess it would be a readied action, but what would the AC be on something like that... hmm..

 

[Darklone]

Yeah

Readied: sure as noted above. The description of the spell says if it hits something between, it explodes. As for the AC to hit it with a ranged touch attack ... Tiny at least, fast moving... Not too easy. And you can't move a door with Mage hand

Anyone got other nice ideas for (ab)uses of zero level spells?

 

[hong]

Re: Yeah

Anyone got other nice ideas for (ab)uses of zero level spells?

I am abusing my mage hand RIGHT NOW, if you know what I mean, and I think you do.


Hong "abusing flare will make you go blind" Ooi

 

[Darklone]

Re: Re: Yeah

I am abusing my mage hand RIGHT NOW, if you know what I mean, and I think you do.

Hong "abusing flare will make you go blind" Ooi

Eeks, a HONG killed my thread!

 

[Wippit Guud]

How about taking a map, or paper or whatnot, and mage handing it over the big fighters eye slits in his full helm.

 

[Pielorinho]

Keep in mind that mage hand can move something about 15' every six seconds -- 2.5 feet a second. You'll have a real hard time throwing something at that rate, although you could conceivably drop a flask of alchemist's fire with it.

Intercepting a fireball will be even harder: given the amount of time you have to prepare for this action, and given the speed of the fireball, it'll be almost impossible. As a house rule, I'd require a spellcraft check (DC25+spell level) to predict the spell's target precisely. If there's an object within 6 inches of the line of effect, I'd allow a readied mage hand to pick up the object and intervene, making a ranged touch attack vs. AC 22 (+4 DEX, since the fireball is moving quickly, and +8 size, since it's tiny). It should probably be harder.

Picking up a crossbow bolt is impossible: it can only move unattended objects, and the crossbow bolt in your example is attended.

Yeah, this kinda sucks -- but it is, after all, a cantrip. If it could do the things you want it to do, it would need to be a higher-level spell.

My favorite prestidigitation use was to dry off the slimy walls of a cave so that I could climb on them. I had a sorcerer/rogue in one of my games sneak-attack with ray of frost; given her description, I decided her enemy died of the worst ice-cream headache in history.

Daniel

 

[ouini]

0-level spell uses

Mage Hand: Once, when unarmed, my bard Halfling used Mage Hand to drop his cloak over the head of the ghoul the rest of the party was fighting. I think all it did was take away her multiple attacks for a round, but still...

Prestidigitation is awfully versatile. You can use it for non-verbal communication at a simple level. Create a dimly luminescent green ball behind you as you sneak ahead of the party, turn it red when there's trouble. Or place the same ball over the head of someone the group is talking with, turning it red when you think they're lying. Use it as a cue for a coordinated attack from near and far party members.

Light: There's the usual lighting of an x-bow bolt and shooting it way the frick over -there-. Another cute thing to do is to cast light on a sugar cube, dissolve it in water, and threaten to throw it at someone (as a bluff). Or grind the cube and scatter it to the wind. Or dampen the cube to slush and use it to write directions in glowing letters (or just arrows) for the party members who are following you. Or cast Light on your palm (or under your familiar's wing) so you can turn the light on and off quickly. Finally, light the end of a 40' string and drag it behind the party to be able to keep an eye out for things you know are following you.

Don't forget Dancing Lights, which specifies it can appear as a vaguely humanoid shape. You can bluff non-mages with a glowing, lumbering shape coming at them.

 

[Darklone]

As a house rule, I'd require a spellcraft check (DC25+spell level) to predict the spell's target precisely. If there's an object within 6 inches of the line of effect, I'd allow a readied mage hand to pick up the object and intervene, making a ranged touch attack vs. AC 22 (+4 DEX, since the fireball is moving quickly, and +8 size, since it's tiny). It should probably be harder.

We used similar AC for the ranged touch attack. But since the thing you moved could be larger (not heavy, but large) it would be easier to intercept

Picking up a crossbow bolt is impossible: it can only move unattended objects, and the crossbow bolt in your example is attended.

Depends on the DM IMHO... you grab the crossbow, you don't touch the bolt

 

[Pielorinho]

Depends on the DM IMHO... you grab the crossbow, you don't touch the bolt

Yikes! That's a really scary ruling. If the trigger is a separate piece of wood, can mage hand operate the trigger, then, on a crossbow? Can a mage hand pick up a flask of alchemist's fire from someone's bandolier, since they're wearing the bandolier, not the flask? Can you operate someone's visor, since it's separate from the main helmet part that they're actually wearing? What about shoelaces?

An attended object is one that is reasonably considered to be in someone's personal possessions; to rule otherwise opens a can of purple worms.

As for the mage hand intercepting the fireball, the most important part of the process is using an object within six inches of the line of effect. It should work VERY rarely.

Daniel