One Minute Cantrips

#shorts

[lucasnicolasgarzarellasald]

In my tables we decided for this kind of "compulsive casting" that when combat starts we roll a d10-1 to check how many rounds the cantrip has left. And if the spell has a verbal component, stealth disadvantage. It kinda works! :P

[marianpetera]

Oh boy, are we gonna see the fabled skinny halfling / gnome wizard who cast Enlarge / Reduce on themselves and then ride their own Mage Hand the whole combat? :D Can't wait for the next build!

[beastslayer]

You know, out of all the cantrips to make a build around, I never would have expected Mage hand.

[keladryel]

Benefit of playing online, just set up a recording and set to repeat every 60s until you need to find yourself a new group xD

[eswift]

I had a halfling who started life as a rogue but wanted to be a famous musician, so I switched him to bard. He used prestidigitation constantly. He would never lift anything under one pound physically. If the DM said the food served was too hot or too cold? "Not mine - prestidigitaion!" He would sometimes use an action in the middle of battle to use prestidigitation to clean the blood splatters of his clothes. Or the DM would say, "Your bright red and gold cape makes you stand out in the forest." Nah! It's dark green now - PRESTIDIGITATION!
Read your spell descriptions and look for ways to use those cantrips.

[PatrikSiljestam]

I would allow this with the requirement that the player rolls 1d10 to determine how many rounds they have left on the mage hand when combat starts.

[NullRageGaming]

I don't often DM, but when I do things like this are definitely considered to just be "always active". Makes everything easier for everyone IMO.
Guidance is the perfect example for this. The way I rule, if you know the guidance cantrip then in MOST situations, just go head and add that D4 when I call for a check.
But when I ask another player for a check, you'll still need to ask if your character would have had the time or inclination to guide them.

I'm currently playing a Swarmkeeper Ranger, so I guess I should clarify this aspect of mage hand with my DM. I have probably been underutilizing my "swarm hand" now that I think of it. That may change this level as I just learned the Light cantrip from taking a cleric dip and will probably have my swarm carry lit objects for me/my party.

[rasmusborg]

Amazing video!
I love the recurring theme of you sharing sneaky ways to convince DM:s. It gives a wonderful dualistic feeling that you've been in the seat on both sides of the convincing.

[soldierofkazus]

Simple justification: Always be visibly using Mage Hand. Have it trailing along walls as you go, make gestures with it, place it on a party member's shoulder. Make it clear that continuously using Mage Hand is an important part of your character's behavior and having a fresh cast six seconds before any given combat will sound like a natural assumption.

[mattgopack]

I'd really only allow it if there's a reason for the character to have mage hand up at all times beyond it's combat utility - after all, in universe, combat is not omnipresent in most situations. If it's somewhere they'd expect it, then it's a different story (eg, going into a dungeon - you know it's probably dangerous, so constantly casting it is fine there... though I'd then give disadvantage on stealth).

But in other situations, I think I'd need them to *actually* have a use for it all the time. Mage hand is one that actually would be fine for that - a character that's lazy and constantly using the hand as an extension of themselves would be a prime candidate. Alternatively, for mage hand specifically, if it's a gith or through the telekinetic feat I'd allow it (since there's no components when they cast mage hand, there's no reason they couldn't just continually have it up without any sign of it in-universe).

For other cantrips, I'd go through the same line of thinking. If it's something that they can't be constantly casting without V/S/M components, then they'd need to have a justification to do so, and would have some mechanical penalties for the constant casting (dis on stealth, maybe exhaustion checks if it's a long day, etc).

[cyrosgold]

I imagine a one handed caster who constantly uses mage hand to make up for his loss of manual dexterity.

[thebitterfig]

Really fun thing to think about brewed fixes. The one that's percolating right now: I'd let the player start an encounter with Mage Hand or Shillelagh active, but only for 5 rounds instead of 10. Basically, at any given time, presume they cast the minute-duration cantrip 30 seconds ago. It'd delay the dead round for recasting a while, but doesn't necessarily eliminate it on long fights.

[ericwatson]

I literally did basically this exact thing only the spells I compulsively cast were Shillelagh and Guidance on my ranger.

[purpleavatar]

I would allow it with the understanding that at the start of combat they should roll to see how much time has passed since the last casting. This will determine how many rounds mage hand is up.

[mr.grimjoy]

Oh no, is mage hand gonna be the new darkvision..

[dragoknight]

A Mage Hand build, huh? Well, I can only think of two ways to use Mage Hand in combat.

1) 13th level Arcane Trickster rogues get to distract creatures with Mage Hand as a bonus action, giving themself advantage on attacks.

2) Dropping stuff on an enemy’s heads.

[hannes]

Even then, the real reason why mage hand exists is so that arcane tricksters can steal shit with an invisible helper.

[indigoblacksteel]

If someone really wanted to do this for these one minute cantrips, I might have an alternate casting of the cantrip that lasts indefinitely outside of combat but requires concentration. Then it reverts to normal rules when combat starts.

[SakraIgorqNomoko]

As you begin casting a spell, everyone roll initiative. Before the top of the round, the BBEG held his action to monologue when you arrived, so that resolves first.

[wanderingaming]

I feel that someone with telekinesis as a feat should always have mage hand up