D&D 5E (2014) [POLL] Best non-combat cantrips

[Esker]

Surprised more people didn't pick Mold Earth. I tend to think it's a bit overrated since people seem to think it can do all sorts of things the spell doesn't actually say it can do, but figured it'd be pretty popular.

 

[Leatherhead]

Mage Hand is insanely overrated. Half of the things people want to do with it aren't actually doable with the basic cantrip. It only manipulates non-magical objects, and only if they aren't in the possession of someone else.

No picking up creatures to fly them, no using it to force-feed a healing potion from a safe distance (those are magical items). You can't even use it to spring traps or get the guards keys from their belt-loop if you aren't an Arcane Trickster.

Shape Water can make you a bridge of ice. Which is really useful, if a bit campaign dependent. But realistically, every campaign world other than Dark Sun as some water in it. At any rate, it's better than any of the other elemental cantrips, and better than most of the rest of the list.

 

[Todd Roybark]

no using it to force-feed a healing potion from a safe distance (those are magical items).

The cantrip does explicitly state that Mage Hand can pour the contents out of a vial, and as long as that vial contains a healing potion, and as long as said vial is being poured into a characters mouth, many Tables would rule that is sufficient to ‘activate’ a potion.

This is balanced, IMO, as Mage Hand is an action, and preserves the action economy balance of administering a potion. Arcane Tricksters get a bit of a boost, but not overly powerful of one.

One aspect I always find curious is that people tend to accept the ad hoc stunt rules in the PHB,
but spells must be adjudicated as RAW.

If one is ok with a player pulling a “full Legolas” and can ride a shield down stairs while jumping said shield over a missing section of stone flooring while shooting a bow and making a called shot; why is a Wizard trying to pull a “full Merlin” and modify a spell from it’s base parameters somehow so different as to be on auto deny?

 

[Horwath]

Prestidigitation is No.1

Always ready for social encounter even if you just went out of a battle in the middle of the swamp,

Aways having a nice warm tea or cold beer available, even if its just flavored water

Having advantage in hot or cold weather as you can constantly warm up or cool down your clothing and/or your waterbags as radiator or heatsink.

Always be able to start a campfire(no need for Survival and all that Bear Gryllsing )

 

[Todd Roybark]

Prestidigitation is No.1

Flavoring food is vastly underrated. Descent to Avernus /spoiler/
mentions that food tastes like nothing but ash in hell....but not with magic sriracha.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Cast disguise self, cast friends on the guard to get into the maguffin place, walk around the corner and dismiss DS and chuckle while the guard searches frantically for the 'old man' who dummied him. That's my basic playbook.

But if you get delayed even slightly the spell will wear off while you're still interacting with the guard. Or the guard will raise the alarm when he realises the old man had cast a spell on him to sneak in. The risks of using Friends pretty much never justify the rewards, unless you have a kind DM.

 

[David Howery]

D&D needs to have one of the cantrips from KODT: weak bladder. Imagine the fun you could have with that...

 

[Charlaquin]

I suspect I'll be a little lonely voting for Friends, but I always pair it with disguise and/or alter self, at which point it's dead sexy. For 3rd pillar play anyway.

It’s a sorely under-rated cantrip. I wouldn’t rank it among my top 5, but it’s still a great one.

 

[Charlaquin]

Presty to create a focus so that I don’t have to carry one.

I don’t think it works that way...

 

[Charlaquin]

I know most people like Prestidigitation over Thaumaturgy and Druidcraft, and I don't deny that it's more versatile. But I personally find Thaumaturgy more fun. Booming voice, tremors, glowing red eyes, ominous whispers? Gold.

Personally, I rule that the lists of things those three spells can do are just examples and not exhaustive, and allow all three to do pretty much any small, harmless magic trick as long as it’s on-theme.