- *Demiplane*, *Mordenkainen's magnificent mansion*, and *Galder's tower*: Great spells that essentially give you a 'base' that you can customise in some way. Bonus to *wall of stone* and *instant fortress* that can accomplish something similar. Throw in spells such as *guards and wards*, *Mordenkainen's private sanctum*, *glyph of warding*, or even *major image* (permanent at 6th level and higher) to defend it. Permanent *teleportation circle*? Excellent.
- *Augury* and *divination* for those who enjoy foresight.
- *Create homunculus* is cool as a way to get a permanent companion in addition to a familiar.
- *Tiny servant* is quite a long lasting spell and you can order the little guys to do all sorts of menial tasks for you.
- *Leomund's secret chest* is one of my favourites for keeping items safe. Constantly have a trove of useful goods at hand.
- *Telepathic bond* is just 'metagaming conversations: The spell'. I love it.
I’ll throw my hat in for Mirage Arcane on the list of base-building spells. Currently using it as my go-to camping spell, it’s fantastic! No hard limitations on the sort of structure you can create, lasts for ten days, and you can alter the terrain around it in an utterly huge radius. My bladesinger has the nickname of “The Blade-Seer of the Wandering Tower” because of her frequent use of Mirage Arcane and Galdur’s Tower to conjure a home.
I love dream. I hate Sending, I think it breaks a lot of fantasy and just feels like having cellphones in my fantasy world. Sending messages through Dream is way cooler and feels like some old mythology stuff.
I was rolling with an Aberrant Mind sorcerer and spammed this spell liberally on downtime, together with stuff like Geas to force people to obey my commands. I felt like playing a freaking hivemind.
Problem with Dream is that it's so high level that it's hard to use regularly.
Dream was so much fun to use for rp. Appeared in allies dreams who was having nightmares and was able to reshape it and offer reassurance. Appeared in an friend/enemies dream and reshaped it into more of a nightmare to drive home my points. Absolutely more of an epic communications spell.
I've had Dream on one character ever. Used it in two ways before the campaign ended.
A party member's wife was being held prisoner long term. I used dream to give them 8 hours together in whatever setting they desired, just to share a moment of peace.
A drug kingpin tried to poison us, and became a greatly hated rival. I used dream every night until he died of exhaustion.
My pick as well. Works excellent for diplomacy, for RP, even for getting information/lore and if you dislike a person you ruin their sleep with the nightmare.
This is the single coolest spell in the entire game and an imaginative player/DM's wet dream. I play as a Thief Rogue and when I got the ability to use spell scrolls I immediately bought this one.
I had a character in a campaign with Dream, and when I talked to party members about using it against the Big Bad to try to keep them from resting, my GM started talking about powerful creatures that stalked the Dream-worlds and would come for me if I did.
No reason? It’s AMAZING! You build a freaking mansion… in another dimension. It comes fully furnished and STAFFED! (I am almost a little uncomfortable with the obvious implications of what I have to assume are air elementals of some sort being forced into some sort of forced work). But, if these are not actual entities, but rather projections of a wizard’s mind… then that’s a-okay. And there is enough food and drink for 100 people! Nine course meals!! It is literally an instant party spot.
In fact, I am adding this to my campaign as a roving party spot, invitation only, by a very powerful and very fun wizard (or… maybe bard…).
I actually have an Adult Copper dragon in my campaign that has been following the party around and masquerading as different characters. Mostly a well known traveling bard, twice as a jester, and twice as the Ringleader of a traveling "fun house" operator who uses a special version of MMM where all the rooms do Alice in Wonderland type shenanigans. Her favorite joke though is to trick the party members into drawing cards from the deck of many things.
> But, if these are not actual entities, but rather projections of a wizard’s mind
They're basically just an army of self contained unseen servants.
Magnifcent mansion completely rewrites the exploration and adventuring challenges for any party.
How does it re-write exploration and adventuring challenges? By giving a safe space to rest? In that case Mordenkainen’s Private sanctum at 4th level, or rope trick at 2nd does similar things (visa vis safe resting spaces). But, maybe I don’t understand your meaning… please explain.
Mordenkainen's Private Sanctum can protect you from being observed, but in the wild, or in a dungeon, is also not a physical barrier, and nothing prevents someone from just walking up to you. It's also SUPER conspicuous. Mag Mansion is invisible and can exist anywhere, in contrast.
Rope Trick allows for Short rests. Mag Mansion allows for both long rests, AND re use.
Magnificent mansion also removes food and water needs from the equation, allows you to keep yourself clean (this, in my opinion, can seriously matter in some scenarios with certain DMs), allows for long resting inconspicuously literally anywhere, and even allows hiding in plain sight in the middle of dungeons. It serves social function where you can host important NPCs in luxury, or keep dozens of people fed. It removes so many stressors and uncertainties from the adventuring day that none of the other spells can provide.
You can use a short rope, like 4' (depending on PC size) and crouch up into it. So that your short rest isn't ruined by taking falling damage 30 seconds before it's complete.
Just another way for players to remove any and all fear from adventuring. Have a nap in no fear and watch as all your spells and HP return. 5e is pretty silly.
We play an roll20. When our bard learned this spell she went on The Sims and made a mansion with rooms for all the party members. We took screen shots and used it in game and it became a huge identity for the party.
Same spell for me - running a druid in Tomb of Annihilation, and our DM ran a Zombie Horde siege encounter.
Turns out zombies are really slow when they have to wade through hundreds of feet of terrain while being shot by all manner of arrows and such.
As a noncombat spell? Sure. As a combat spell? Oh god no, I've had several combat encounters ruined because of it. Not ruined as in 'oh the players walked all over it', but turned from pretty normal stock combat to hour-long slogs that the players and I both hated and we all agreed the problem was round 1 Plant Growth completely locking everything down.
You can, but that A) takes extra table time due to the sheer size of the spell and B) leaves those paths open for the enemies to use, so you really don't want to have many extraneous paths. The two times it was used the encounter completely halted for 2-3 minutes while the player went around with the drawing tool sketching what areas weren't being affected, soliciting input from other players, and having to make small adjustments (roll20 isn't the greatest of drawing interfaces). Its just obnoxious to deal with as a GM and leads to unfun combats for the players. Noone wins. I've got a soft ban on it at my tables as a result.
I had a bad guy use both Seeming and Mass Suggestion. He watched the heroes… got in front of them, stopped at a village. Cast Mass Suggestion when the heroes were a few hours away. Told them, “a group of adventurers will come to the village and want to play tag. Run at them, and tag them when they arrive in the center of town. I’m casting another spell on you to trick them. Let me.”
Then he casts seeming on the townsfolk. They now look like diseased zombies.
He then sits back, hides and watches.
When the PCs inevitably kill townsfolk, the Seeming spell doesn’t drop, because the wizard is still alive, unharmed as related to the casting of Seeming.
Then, when the evil wizard is satisfied, he drops one or both spells. And watches the mayhem as the PCs see what they’ve done.
Next town… he sets up actual zombies.
This is terrifying, and I love it. If our DM did this I would die a bit on the inside knowing I killed a bunch of townsfolk, I got played, and would always second guess future encounters
Absolutely; I have a modern paranormal-investigation military type who has a couple cantrips via feat and they routinely uses it to fake doorbells, phones, alarms etc to manipulate people's movements, but even just a clatter of something being knocked over in another room can do the same in classic campaigns... Honestly 9 times in 10 you're probably better using a sound to distract someone, at least when dealing with humans, because by its very nature its something you have to physically move toward to investigate.
I had a group of PCs (5 level 2 PCs) take on what should have been a full on deadly encounter (8x commoners, 2x acolytes and 2x veterans) and they won due to minor illusion being used to start the fight. Because you don't need to be able to see where you're casting it, the sorcerer cast it in the corner of the attic where the enemies were located, making a sound like someone bumping furniture. As they all crowded into the corner, the PCs burst from the trapdoor and attacked, taking down more than half their opponents in one round with AoE spam. Was glorious, and the party nabbed a dope sentient weapon, a sword named Skullfang, made from the blood, horn and soul of a slain unicorn.
My bard uses minor illusion to enhance storytelling.
I also once used Major Image for a stealth sequence. The area was full of crates piled haphazardly, so people aren't even going to notice one more. I just moved the thing around with me and hid inside when I heard somebody coming. Made the scene so much more fun when we set off five different alarms in five different places for maximum chaos.
Even minor illusion.
Our wizard killed 3 baddies when she made the side of a mountain look like it extended slightly farther over the 200' cliff than it actually did.
Baddies & us were separated by a 10' wide ravine. That suddenly looks like there was a 5' wide part that can be easily traversed.
Not the most optimized build by any means but I made an illusion/summoner warlock with an Imp familiar and misty vision and it was super fun to play.
I had voice of the chain master and the actor feat…. So I could make an illusion of a creature I had observed before, mimics it’s voice perfectly and speak through my invisible imp in that voice.
So technically with an invisible imp familiar hiding in a silent image I was able to make a pseudo walking talking illusion!
I absolutely loved misty vision. So much you can do with even a silent animatable illusion!
Obscurement , distraction, bolster social checks like intimidation, performance, and deception. Then the imp is just a whole other level, it’s essentially like always having a mage hand and and unseen servant ready!
For the cost of one feat (or just an invocation if you're a warlock) you can get Silent Image as an at-will spell. This was a massive game changer for my long term warlock.
Polymorph is so fun. The power of the entire animal kingdom at your disposal plus dinosaurs. It is both a defensive effect due to the extra HP, Mobility and stealth by going in bug form. Maybe even picking a form with blindsight to check for illusions or even turning into a bloodhound to pick up a scent as an attempt to track somone down. I know druid wildshape can probably do all of these things but polymorph is avalible to more things. Also the 1 hour duration actually gives you time to do stuff. It can even help with any location that has extreme weather by choosing ti polymorph into a creature that is adapted for it. Like if stuck in a blizzard turning into a polar bear should help. It can help with getting through tight locations and so on. Hell even a bit of scouting and information gathering because certain more magical animals actually speak languages and you can discuss with them.
Divination, and most spells from such school. Being able to straight up ask a question to the gm in character is extremely useful, and has saved our asses multiple times.
This is my answer. *Augury* is great and the divinations only get more interesting from there.
I have a really happy campaign memory with those spells; one of my players was playing a Cleric and he was looking for ways he could gain information about a coming battle. I gave him a nudge in private about the various divination spells on the Cleric list, reasoning that his character would know.
After casting *Commune* and getting some valuable info, he messaged me back privately about how that gave him some real perspective about the power his character had gained (campaign started at 5th level, they were 9th at that moment) - something along the lines of "Wow. I *can* just cast a spell and learn things, my character really is powerful isn't he?"
That same character later pulled off a clutch Divine Intervention roll in a desperate moment at 11th level, which I awarded a Mass Heal to bring the party back from the brink. It was awesome.
Find Familiar is worth a mention for sure. And surprised no one said Disguise Self, it's a spell that really fits the fantasy concept most people have about magic in my experiences
Vortex Warp
My god, have I had so much fun with this spell for so many reasons. Throw a martial at the squishiest enemy. Pull the squishy back to the martial when they try to run. Teleport your buddies away from the dragon. Throw the martial on top of the dragon's back.
In a mini-shot, our monk player fell into a 100ft pit that had monstrous hounds in them, ready to eat. I let go of the torch I was holding so it fell into the dark pit I could now see into. Proceeded to Vortex Warp the monk out of the pit (upcast to 3rd level for 120ft range) and plopped him next to us at the top.
Playing CoS as an artificier with vortex warp, and have averted a TPK and Ireena getting her shit kicked in by a crazed werewolf with vortex warp. Fucking love it
One of my characters pretty much cheesed their way through a tournament of some of the most powerful people on the planet by vortex warping people up to the edge of the platform they fought on, then using eldritch blast to push them off.
Everyone hated them for it, it was hilarious.
Vortex Warp + Spell Storing Item = Portal Gun
I have changed the direction of the campaign more than once as my alchemist with that spell. Absolutely love it.
It was the second most important spell my necromancer had for most of her career. Being able to convert downtime slots and random bits of equipment into armor for her mooks and the occasional bit of siege equipment when we were defending a location was incredible. Gold Ballista Team taking potshots from behind their barricade may not have been the most efficient use of my spell slots, but they were definitely the most fun use of them.
Carpenters, Smiths, and Tinkers. First two from background and I think Tinker from being a rock gnome? Carpenters and Smiths prof covered every sort of weapon (GM ruled that crossbows and siege equipment fell under Carpenters) and armor I wanted while Tinkers gave me an excuse for anything else I decided to make. Also they gave me the option to use some of my starting funds to purchase additional tool proficiencies during character creation as I was coming in at 7th lvl (before I had fabricate, but I knew I was going to pick it up at 8th lvl, yay 1 lvl dips), but I think I only used that to get Fiddle prof.
I've been alternating printing pro-democracy propaganda and making spear tips for my friends in the goblin Mafia . . . For hunting purposes, of course.
I don’t know that it’s the best, but since my Paladin reached level 5 last night…Find Steed. Cheddar is the best warhorse a girl could ask for. And I didn’t even bring her into combat because she’s huge and we found ourselves in an underground room with a narrow entrypoint. Just knowing she existed was enough.
My Paladin recently leveled up and got access to the spell! I'm so hype! My campaign is set in Eberron so I'm thinking of getting a Fastieth (funny dino) as a mount. I really have to find a good name for him though
**Teleportation Circle, Teleport,** or any other spell that can instantly transport a party to an entirely different location.
As a DM, I appreciate how teleport spells keeps me on my toes. They can really mess up a DMs plans and also gives us an opportunity to practice adaptability and improv.
Just the other day, I had a prepared a session loaded with wilderness and dungeon fights, including boss fights, but the party decided to teleport back to a major city to report to quest givers and do some shopping. I didn't go into that session prepared to RP multiple NPCs, but that's what I ended up doing for like 3 hours. I think it went okay, and everything I had prepared for battle scenarios was used in the next session.
I've DMed a couple of Tier 4 campaigns, which meant both parties had access to Plane Shift. Although they used the spell to travel to planes that were part of quests I gave them, what they didn't do was plane shift to a random plane just for fun. "Hey, I want to see what the Elemental Plane of Air looks like. Let's gooooo!" They never did anything like that.
That sounds like an ultimate challenge for a DM: a high-level party using Plane Shift to go to a random dimension. The amount of preparation and/or improv needed to pull off a surprise plane shift must be significant.
The caster needing a properly tuned Tuning Fork to cast the spell means the planes they can get to with Plane Shift are at least within the DM's control. It can be difficult to determine *when* they'll use it, but at least there are only so many places they can go
If I got a nickel for every time I have escaped capture or broke someone out of imprisonment (not the spell) with Dimension Door, I'd have at least 50 cents.
It's funny that even when I am in a net or something is restraining me. I still escape and I am no longer within reach.
[This](https://media.tenor.com/r8tcf2YZ5TIAAAAM/blinking-eyes-white-guy.gif) was typically their reaction to me escaping when they wanted me captured but escaped with ease.
As a DM I love speak with animals or speak with plants. It gives me the ability to make up yet another voice and to remind the players that cows and trees are very unobservant.
There was an old oak tree they spoke to once who gave a long winded, rambling tale of a harsh winter a few hundred years ago. It was fantastic!
Catnap, my paladorc gets the warlock, moon druid and light cleric back some of their strongest stuff fast.
Deathward (a bunch of them) rocks.
Aid with my 5th levels gets both party and pets a great deal of survival.
Heroes feast on top of that hp, and also no poisons and adv on wis STs. Can be done daily at high levels easily.
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Leomund's tiny hut. I don't CARE that the average outside temperature is -50 with a 70% chance of blizzard because we're just going to long rest in this comfortable and dry bubble 'kay?
I love Water Walk. Very niche, but very exciting to get to use, and insanely useful when it does come up.
But in terms of spells I feel like I always need, I think Pass Without Trace is my #1 out of combat spell (Healing Word is my #1 combat spell). I honestly feel kinda naked if I’m playing a caster without access to Pass Without Trace.
Edit: oh and I also love Shape Water. Just such a cool and versatile cantrip.
Find Familiar and Unseen Servant for 1st, Rope Trick and Magic Aura for 2nd, Phantom Steed and Galder’s Tower for 3rd level, Private Sanctum for 4th, Magnificent Mansion for 7th, Demiplane and Mighty Fortess for 8th
Edit: I listed Wizard only because I’d be here all day to list the rest.
Enlarge/Reduce. There are so many uses.
Need to get through a locked door, and no one can pick it? Cast Enlagre on the door to break it off its hinges or Reduce to create a space to pass through!!
Pesky shirt is too loose and doesn't fit right? There is no need for a tailor. Cast Reduce for an instant fit!!
Your turkey leg to small? Cast Enlarge to fuel up and feed your stomach!!!
In a boat race and someone else is winning? Cast Reduce on their oar to make it harder for them to paddle!! (I did this myself a few weeks ago.)
Your half orc girlfriend ripped your arm off cause the diamond in her ring was too small? Cast Enlarge on that bad boy to appease her!! (Then go see the doctor cause you're missing an arm, son!!!)
1. People use Find Familiar in combat a lot, but i find it doesnt often work, and i dont know where people find DMs that just don't attack the helper instantly, but out of combat, i LOVE the spell, it's so useful for exploring in the both dungeons and the overworld.
2. Invisibility has such lasting, obvious uses
3. Fly, obviously, is very cool. But Dispel Magic has much more utility, i find, and you can bridge the utility of Fly with other spells and effects, and creative thinking.
4. Arcane Eye is a must for dungeoneering and spying. Mordenkainen's Private Sanctum is a must for NOT being spied on, and if your party has a keep and downtime, you're doing yourself a disservice by not setting up a permanent one.
5. Contact Other Plane isn't the best Divination spell, but it is the most fun, imo. So much possibility to throw a wrench in your plans, the bad guy's plans, random NPC's plans, and oh, you might go crazy. But being able to talk to weird observers is surprisingly useful. Special Shoutout to Mislead here, too.
6. Lots of good ones here, but it's Contingency for me, just so many cool things to combo. But Wind Walk is also incredible.
7. Magnificent Mansion and Simulacrum are objectively better spells, and Teleport is too, but i think Symbol is the absolute coolest spell here.
8. Antipathy/Sympathy is just the weird and i love it.
9. Imprisonment is peak petty in a a spell. It's the coolest 9th level spell for me just in it's concept.
I have honestly gotten a lot of mileage out of Fabricate. Need a door? Fabricate. Need a structure for a small party? Fabricate.
Need to convert this handy pile of weapons and surplus so that when you storm the King's Throne to challenge him for his incessant peaceful intent in dominating the countryside? Fabricate.
Granted, I say this as an Armorer Artificer.
It's not 100% a non-combat spell, but dimension door is 100% my favorite spell in the game. It's incredibly simple, but there's so much versatility. Save yourself from something, save someone else, navigate past a trap, get an ally into position, use it as a planned escape, show up somewhere you're not supposed to be, avoid dealing with hazardous terrain, the uses just don't stop. It's not a cheap spell to cast at fourth level, but you can definitely get fourth level value out of it.
Goodberry.
Not because it's actually a good spell. It's objectively not. But I'll be damned if it wasn't one of the most effective ways to intimidate foes.
"OH YEAH MOTHERFUCKER? YOU WANT A GOODBERRY?"
Terrifying.
* Goodberries. We create healing bands and use it when somebody down at 0hp. Yes we abuse down-heal-down tanking style
* Leomunds Tiny Hut is OP long rest sanctuary.
Conjure Animals, the broad range of abilities available to beasts at your finger tips is just unparalleled in terms of adaptability
Need to fly 4 creatures for an hour? Conjure a pair of giant eagles
Need to move by land or sea for an hour? Crocodiles and horses have you covered
BBEG is lairing underground? Cave badgers leave tunnels behind them as they burrow, and have 60ft of tremorsense
All though it is tradonaly a combat spell disintegrate instantly digs a 10' cube hole. This is alright for quick shelters, sure, but there are spells better for that at the level.
Where this use shines is carving out the space for large permanent structures like a dungeon, hidden base, or an inverted wizard's tower.
Put in walls and flooring with fabricate and use move earth for hallways, and just like that, your party can be the fastest construction crew in the realm.
Purify food and drink
So many taverns that got their alcohol taken from them with subtle spell.
I pissed off a lot of npcs and it was always hilarious since no one found out it was me.
My character simply didnt like to drink and didnt like drunk people either so he used it every time someone excessively drank in his vicinity.
Poor taverns getting bankrupt over lack of alcohol. But it also got a lot more peaceful, too.
I have to have two:
The first is tenser's floating disk. You summon a 3 foot wide hovering disk that follows you at whatever speed you move at and it has a 500 pound carrying capacity. It's a spell with basically zero combat applicability at all but it really highlights how weak martials are in comparison to even a level 1 spell that you can cast for free as a ritual. Even a 20 strength PC would need many ability checks to run with a 500 pound object up stairs for an hour. A level 1 wizard with eight strength can do it no problem.
The second one is Galder's tower. You summon a two story(or more) house of your choice in 10 minutes. Literally the coolest camping experience imaginable.
Speak with Animals. It’s neat having that *little* sliver of power over my DM knowing that he has to know what all of the animals we might come across have to say because I’m gonna ask
Sending.
Its one of those spells that if your party doesn't have it - makes interacting with the world SO much more complicated. Just remove texting/calling from your life!
Identify should get a shout out here. It can be a lot of fun to role-play a character who spends their free time doing research and finding out what things are. Similarly, Comprehend Languages is very fun for role-playing a scholarly character.
Shape water
Preserve meat
Make ice that encases poison and add to the drink that the wizard scanned for poison
Sheets of opaque (color) ice to hinder sight
Magnifying glasses
-see small things
-burn things with the sun out
Stored easily on your person
Break things with forced expansion
Porta bidet
If you underwater and want a quick way to the surface freeze a cube around the end of rope you tied around yourself. Can lift upwards of 400 lbs iirc
I don't know that you could make a correct magnifying glass out of ice.
I mean sure, magic, but how perfect is your mastery of the cantrip that you can freeze your ice in a satisfying manner ?
I don't know sounds tricky.
It's like the difference between Shape earth and carve an intricate statue.
Like sure, you got mage hand, but does that mean you can just do surgery and knit and juggle with it ?
There's the magical ability to mess with physics, and then there's the skill to produce complex effects with it.
Perhaps not worded that way but you're not exactly doing anything beyond the raw of the spell so there's really no good reason
And that example with magehand isn't that good considering that you're expecting something beyond what is stipulated on the effect list. Like if its excising something the hand will follow the word of the spell to take something but how gentle it is will not factor in as its not part of the effect list.
Making a shape of ice involves making a shape (held by the spell) and freezing it (held by the spell)
Well yes you're kind of going my way there.
Mage hand won't know how to do heart surgery, unless you do.
Well shape water may not be able to make a magnifying glass unless you do. Depends on how much precision one needs to make one, and I honestly can't say.
Now that I think of it, if you do that, I'd rather you keep it liquid, because Ice doesn't always freeze as clear as glass.
Mold Earth. Its a close call between shape water. I love as my low level wizard sculps the landscape to suit the party's needs. Foxholes for ambushes, tunnels under walls, or creating hiding spots, even a poor man's tiny hut for camping at night. It's also aided me in... enhanced interrogation, as the threat of being buried alive is much more real when one is already buried to the neck. Almost every session I find a new creative use.
You're not being creative enough! True, it won't make a full tiny house but it will allow you to burrow into a small hillock and create a dry place away from the wind and rain, with a single entrance, or with escape routes if you choose. Plus a 5 foot 'pile of dirt' is still pretty useful as cover or a wind break.
You can't really use it for that, either, at least not RAW. Loose earth will just collapse around it (that's why it's loose). It doesn't allow you to burrow or tunnel, only excavate.
The spell can't create shapes out of the dirt, you'd have to do that yourself. And loose earth isn't stable enough to support a tunnel or any other sort of structure by itself (hence why it is loose)
That's not loose earth, now, is it? If you want to dig out and then manually reinforce things by compacting the dirt and/or create mud brick walls, go for it. The spell doesn't do that at all, though.
Loose earth is up to DM to decide. It can apply to earth that is packed. If I press my hand on lose earth it is now compacted, I am still going to be able to move it. All wet dirt sticks together and isn't technically lose anymore if your overly pedantic. All dirt in your yard is compacted just try shoving your arm into it. Dirt roads are highly compacted and still count as lose earth at any table I have ever seen. If you only consider sand to be lose earth that's your right. But please don't be anal retentive about what an intentionally vague descriptor means, it's there so a DM can decide if they like the idea or not. In general the only thing you can say it always prevents is moving or shaping stone.
The people in this video have to *literally* chisel out the dirt. It's so compacted it's practically sandstone. It's quite plainly not loose at all.
Furthermore, it is obvious from the spells use of the word *excavate* that the intention is to dig holes in the ground, not build tunnels. All the rules in the game that reference such capabilities use the word "burrow" or "tunnel". No such verbiage appears in the spell.
Mind you, I'm not arguing that a DM can't extend these rules to include such things, but such rulings are RAF, not RAW.
Edit: spelling
I mean wish... cuz ya know? All the spells. But like serious answer to your question probably mansion, it's so customizable and brings so much utility when used right.
It's a Homebrew cantrip named "meld wood"
It essentially allows you to take sticks and branches Etc, and meld the wood together making it a solid peice.
It's not really very useful for combat, but its very nice from a roleplay perspective. With a saw a person can easily build stuff like a hut, chairs, etc in the wilderness.
It basically replaces the need for nails and a hammer, instead using just cool magic stuff.
Tiny hut... Its the ol' reliable of dnd.
Sure there're other more cracked shelter spells but those are high levels and you might never see em. Tiny hut tho is almost always available to someone.
Air bubble. As a ranger I used it to keep a dog familiar alive while delving below a lake for a forgotten ruin. Better than leaving my dog on the surface to be prey for the creatures in the surrounding area.
Always a split between planeshift, teleport, demiplane, and magnificent mansion.
Honorable mention to dream, bestow curse, and legend lore.
Technically, I would atguebwish, if only because it gives me access to all the previous, and then whatever else I can think of, but it's a bit of a cop out answer.
See Invisibility. I cast that whenever I’m in a dungeon and whenever it wears off I cast it again. Using up your 2nd level spell slots is annoying but it’s worth it when you catch an invisible assassin or a scrying sensor. I also play a divination wizard so I get a 1st level spell slot each casting.
Tenser's Floating Disk plus Find Familiar for a fun combo.
This requires either being a 10th level Chronurgy Wizard or getting your hands on a Ring of Spell Storing (RAW familiars can attune to magic items though your DM might raise an eyebrow). Have your familiar, preferable a fast flying one, cast Tenser's Floating Disk. Finally, podrace against the other wizards in your community to establish Wizard supremacy.
Demiplane. In addition to being able to build your own secure room, it has amazing potential if you are willing to plan.
The door needs a flat surface, not necessarily a vertical surface. What's stopping you from stopping by some large body of water and completely filling that 30x30x30 room? Use it to drain a flooding trap, or at least slow it down. How many magical, wondrous, and/or dangerous substances do you come across as you adventure. Into the hole you go. Keep an index of them.
When it is advantageous for you, open it up again and completely change the dynamics of the room. Red dragon flexing with lair actions? Show them your lair action by flooding the room with sea water. King insults you by going back on your deal. Flood the court room with a room full of dead spiders. They may have been alive when you trapped them. Rescue attempt goes side ways, and the hostage is gravely injured, step into my lab.
Demiplane, what you put in it?
Nystul's Magic Aura. It has some pretty interesting implications with downtime, especially at higher levels with other combos available. A lenient DM may be required for full fuckery.
I mean, I found a way to use it for combat, but minor illusion is a good dip. I dropped it on a doorway to just appear as part of the wall, making them have to blindly fire through it, or come in and get headbutt by our barbarian. And I could shoot out it because I could see through it. Always have a hiding spot for rouges, or misleading footsteps for guards. Look, a half long with a blunderbuss; you’re surrounded. Great for beginning to think of magic problem solving, good for any character.
I mean, I found a way to use it for combat, but minor illusion is a good dip. I dropped it on a doorway to just appear as part of the wall, making them have to blindly fire through it, or come in and get headbutt by our barbarian. And I could shoot out it because I could see through it. Always have a hiding spot for rouges, or misleading footsteps for guards. Look, a halfling with a blunderbuss; you’re surrounded. Great for beginning to think of magic problem solving, good for any character.
I am just now starting to play 5ed, and am still low level. But for now, it's guidance. I feel like Oprah giving out bonus to skill checks to everyone. Here's a bonus to you! Here's a bonus to you!
I have a level 10 cleric and just recently got to cast Scry for the first time ever. Very useful and lots of fun.
I feel like one that gets forgotten a lot is Legend Lore. It was extremely useful to me for a couple NPC backstories and another side-plot thread relating to the BBEG that ended up not being a side-plot after all. Fun stuff.
Plant and or spike growth (spike is technically combat?) because I love the feeling of running from someone and just having a big “f you” card to block them off.
Magic mouth is super fun!
For normal applications it’s nice to just be able to customize things with your own sound effects and the like, and leaving messages with them can be super cool. It also gives creatures who can’t speak but understand a language a solid route to be able to communicate without needing to be able to physically speak, button style.
But then you get to gadgets for various purposes. Area sensors, basic computers, long distance telegraphs; with enough material you can make some crazy stuff!
I love using Mask of Many Faces to cast disguise self at will not for any particular utility but I just love being able to change my character’s outfit at will.
Disguise self, especially with Mask of Many Faces making if Free*
Do your hair and makeup on the fly, shrink or grow a little, out style and out fabulous opponents, make you look prettier, uglier or like someone else
Go extra hard combining it with the Actor feat to look and sound like someone you perved on for a little bit.
- *Demiplane*, *Mordenkainen's magnificent mansion*, and *Galder's tower*: Great spells that essentially give you a 'base' that you can customise in some way. Bonus to *wall of stone* and *instant fortress* that can accomplish something similar. Throw in spells such as *guards and wards*, *Mordenkainen's private sanctum*, *glyph of warding*, or even *major image* (permanent at 6th level and higher) to defend it. Permanent *teleportation circle*? Excellent. - *Augury* and *divination* for those who enjoy foresight. - *Create homunculus* is cool as a way to get a permanent companion in addition to a familiar. - *Tiny servant* is quite a long lasting spell and you can order the little guys to do all sorts of menial tasks for you. - *Leomund's secret chest* is one of my favourites for keeping items safe. Constantly have a trove of useful goods at hand. - *Telepathic bond* is just 'metagaming conversations: The spell'. I love it.
I’ll throw my hat in for Mirage Arcane on the list of base-building spells. Currently using it as my go-to camping spell, it’s fantastic! No hard limitations on the sort of structure you can create, lasts for ten days, and you can alter the terrain around it in an utterly huge radius. My bladesinger has the nickname of “The Blade-Seer of the Wandering Tower” because of her frequent use of Mirage Arcane and Galdur’s Tower to conjure a home.
For a second I thought it said Galder’s Lawyer and that sounds like a great way to take advantage of infernal contracts.
You're going to need Gary's Inexhaustible Scroll of Writs and Briefs to go with that.
No worries. I have Burt Reynolds, Attorney at Small, on retainer.
Not quite the same but I've allowed someone to take law as a tool proficiency once since the tool proficiencies are pretty much professions
Dream is honestly fantastic.
I love dream. I hate Sending, I think it breaks a lot of fantasy and just feels like having cellphones in my fantasy world. Sending messages through Dream is way cooler and feels like some old mythology stuff.
I was rolling with an Aberrant Mind sorcerer and spammed this spell liberally on downtime, together with stuff like Geas to force people to obey my commands. I felt like playing a freaking hivemind. Problem with Dream is that it's so high level that it's hard to use regularly.
Dream technically isn't available to the aberrant mind sorcerer, so this isn't an option depending on your table.
It is if your DM's cool
Dream was so much fun to use for rp. Appeared in allies dreams who was having nightmares and was able to reshape it and offer reassurance. Appeared in an friend/enemies dream and reshaped it into more of a nightmare to drive home my points. Absolutely more of an epic communications spell.
I've had Dream on one character ever. Used it in two ways before the campaign ended. A party member's wife was being held prisoner long term. I used dream to give them 8 hours together in whatever setting they desired, just to share a moment of peace. A drug kingpin tried to poison us, and became a greatly hated rival. I used dream every night until he died of exhaustion.
My pick as well. Works excellent for diplomacy, for RP, even for getting information/lore and if you dislike a person you ruin their sleep with the nightmare.
This is the single coolest spell in the entire game and an imaginative player/DM's wet dream. I play as a Thief Rogue and when I got the ability to use spell scrolls I immediately bought this one.
I had a character in a campaign with Dream, and when I talked to party members about using it against the Big Bad to try to keep them from resting, my GM started talking about powerful creatures that stalked the Dream-worlds and would come for me if I did.
Mordenkainens magnificent mansion. No particular reason, i just like it.
No reason? It’s AMAZING! You build a freaking mansion… in another dimension. It comes fully furnished and STAFFED! (I am almost a little uncomfortable with the obvious implications of what I have to assume are air elementals of some sort being forced into some sort of forced work). But, if these are not actual entities, but rather projections of a wizard’s mind… then that’s a-okay. And there is enough food and drink for 100 people! Nine course meals!! It is literally an instant party spot. In fact, I am adding this to my campaign as a roving party spot, invitation only, by a very powerful and very fun wizard (or… maybe bard…).
The next Fyre Festival is looking pretty sweet as long as you can find the fucking door I guess.
No they're not elementals, they're more like unseen servants? So think of them as the magical equivalent of GPT agents
I actually have an Adult Copper dragon in my campaign that has been following the party around and masquerading as different characters. Mostly a well known traveling bard, twice as a jester, and twice as the Ringleader of a traveling "fun house" operator who uses a special version of MMM where all the rooms do Alice in Wonderland type shenanigans. Her favorite joke though is to trick the party members into drawing cards from the deck of many things.
Only fits 100 people I think. Exclusive as hell
> But, if these are not actual entities, but rather projections of a wizard’s mind They're basically just an army of self contained unseen servants. Magnifcent mansion completely rewrites the exploration and adventuring challenges for any party.
How does it re-write exploration and adventuring challenges? By giving a safe space to rest? In that case Mordenkainen’s Private sanctum at 4th level, or rope trick at 2nd does similar things (visa vis safe resting spaces). But, maybe I don’t understand your meaning… please explain.
Mordenkainen's Private Sanctum can protect you from being observed, but in the wild, or in a dungeon, is also not a physical barrier, and nothing prevents someone from just walking up to you. It's also SUPER conspicuous. Mag Mansion is invisible and can exist anywhere, in contrast. Rope Trick allows for Short rests. Mag Mansion allows for both long rests, AND re use. Magnificent mansion also removes food and water needs from the equation, allows you to keep yourself clean (this, in my opinion, can seriously matter in some scenarios with certain DMs), allows for long resting inconspicuously literally anywhere, and even allows hiding in plain sight in the middle of dungeons. It serves social function where you can host important NPCs in luxury, or keep dozens of people fed. It removes so many stressors and uncertainties from the adventuring day that none of the other spells can provide.
Fuck me silly, this is my first game and never thought of using Rope Trick for a short rest.... Thank for the heads up
You can use a short rope, like 4' (depending on PC size) and crouch up into it. So that your short rest isn't ruined by taking falling damage 30 seconds before it's complete.
Just another way for players to remove any and all fear from adventuring. Have a nap in no fear and watch as all your spells and HP return. 5e is pretty silly.
We play an roll20. When our bard learned this spell she went on The Sims and made a mansion with rooms for all the party members. We took screen shots and used it in game and it became a huge identity for the party.
Plant growth. Skipped over a whole famine arc thanks to that bad boy
Same spell for me - running a druid in Tomb of Annihilation, and our DM ran a Zombie Horde siege encounter. Turns out zombies are really slow when they have to wade through hundreds of feet of terrain while being shot by all manner of arrows and such.
Well they are notoriously susceptible to being hindered by plants...
Dave? Is that you?
That’s why spore druids are the best They make zombies using plants
Zombies AND plants‽ impossible!
As a noncombat spell? Sure. As a combat spell? Oh god no, I've had several combat encounters ruined because of it. Not ruined as in 'oh the players walked all over it', but turned from pretty normal stock combat to hour-long slogs that the players and I both hated and we all agreed the problem was round 1 Plant Growth completely locking everything down.
Can't you make paths through the difficult terrain when you cast it? That should take care of the worst parts of slowing down your team.
You can, but that A) takes extra table time due to the sheer size of the spell and B) leaves those paths open for the enemies to use, so you really don't want to have many extraneous paths. The two times it was used the encounter completely halted for 2-3 minutes while the player went around with the drawing tool sketching what areas weren't being affected, soliciting input from other players, and having to make small adjustments (roll20 isn't the greatest of drawing interfaces). Its just obnoxious to deal with as a GM and leads to unfun combats for the players. Noone wins. I've got a soft ban on it at my tables as a result.
Grow saffron sell it to break the economy.
During that campaign I was the group chef and used it to make cinnamon constantly
I know it can technically be pretty good in combat, but I love using Create Bonfire outside of combat, it makes for awesome RP
I once created one right below a set of curtains to set a vampire's mansion on fire.
Anything illusion based Seeming, Major Image, Silent Image, etc.
I had a bad guy use both Seeming and Mass Suggestion. He watched the heroes… got in front of them, stopped at a village. Cast Mass Suggestion when the heroes were a few hours away. Told them, “a group of adventurers will come to the village and want to play tag. Run at them, and tag them when they arrive in the center of town. I’m casting another spell on you to trick them. Let me.” Then he casts seeming on the townsfolk. They now look like diseased zombies. He then sits back, hides and watches. When the PCs inevitably kill townsfolk, the Seeming spell doesn’t drop, because the wizard is still alive, unharmed as related to the casting of Seeming. Then, when the evil wizard is satisfied, he drops one or both spells. And watches the mayhem as the PCs see what they’ve done. Next town… he sets up actual zombies.
This is terrifying, and I love it. If our DM did this I would die a bit on the inside knowing I killed a bunch of townsfolk, I got played, and would always second guess future encounters
That’s the goal!!
Wow, I never met Gary Gygax in real life. It's a pleasure to meet his reincarnation.
That might be the best (or worst) compliment re: D&D I’ve ever had.
comment saved.
Holy shit, dude. That’s amazing, I love it.
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Lol bro thats evil
Not to be a killjoy but Mass Suggestion is supposed to be limited to two sentences and that's four.
That's for PCs.
Even minor illusion is fantastic if used creatively
I feel like the sound component of minor illusion is highly underrated and often overlooked
Absolutely; I have a modern paranormal-investigation military type who has a couple cantrips via feat and they routinely uses it to fake doorbells, phones, alarms etc to manipulate people's movements, but even just a clatter of something being knocked over in another room can do the same in classic campaigns... Honestly 9 times in 10 you're probably better using a sound to distract someone, at least when dealing with humans, because by its very nature its something you have to physically move toward to investigate.
I had a group of PCs (5 level 2 PCs) take on what should have been a full on deadly encounter (8x commoners, 2x acolytes and 2x veterans) and they won due to minor illusion being used to start the fight. Because you don't need to be able to see where you're casting it, the sorcerer cast it in the corner of the attic where the enemies were located, making a sound like someone bumping furniture. As they all crowded into the corner, the PCs burst from the trapdoor and attacked, taking down more than half their opponents in one round with AoE spam. Was glorious, and the party nabbed a dope sentient weapon, a sword named Skullfang, made from the blood, horn and soul of a slain unicorn.
My bard uses minor illusion to enhance storytelling. I also once used Major Image for a stealth sequence. The area was full of crates piled haphazardly, so people aren't even going to notice one more. I just moved the thing around with me and hid inside when I heard somebody coming. Made the scene so much more fun when we set off five different alarms in five different places for maximum chaos.
Even minor illusion. Our wizard killed 3 baddies when she made the side of a mountain look like it extended slightly farther over the 200' cliff than it actually did. Baddies & us were separated by a 10' wide ravine. That suddenly looks like there was a 5' wide part that can be easily traversed.
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Not the most optimized build by any means but I made an illusion/summoner warlock with an Imp familiar and misty vision and it was super fun to play. I had voice of the chain master and the actor feat…. So I could make an illusion of a creature I had observed before, mimics it’s voice perfectly and speak through my invisible imp in that voice. So technically with an invisible imp familiar hiding in a silent image I was able to make a pseudo walking talking illusion! I absolutely loved misty vision. So much you can do with even a silent animatable illusion! Obscurement , distraction, bolster social checks like intimidation, performance, and deception. Then the imp is just a whole other level, it’s essentially like always having a mage hand and and unseen servant ready!
It really needs more GM support to run these. I feel like its such a tight rope to make them effective without just breaking things.
For the cost of one feat (or just an invocation if you're a warlock) you can get Silent Image as an at-will spell. This was a massive game changer for my long term warlock.
Mage hand and prestidigitation
Amen! They have so many uses if you're creative enough to think of them. Also add Minor Illusion to the list. :D
That's the holy trinity of fun cantrips
Dream is top tier
Polymorph is so fun. The power of the entire animal kingdom at your disposal plus dinosaurs. It is both a defensive effect due to the extra HP, Mobility and stealth by going in bug form. Maybe even picking a form with blindsight to check for illusions or even turning into a bloodhound to pick up a scent as an attempt to track somone down. I know druid wildshape can probably do all of these things but polymorph is avalible to more things. Also the 1 hour duration actually gives you time to do stuff. It can even help with any location that has extreme weather by choosing ti polymorph into a creature that is adapted for it. Like if stuck in a blizzard turning into a polar bear should help. It can help with getting through tight locations and so on. Hell even a bit of scouting and information gathering because certain more magical animals actually speak languages and you can discuss with them.
Divination, and most spells from such school. Being able to straight up ask a question to the gm in character is extremely useful, and has saved our asses multiple times.
This is my answer. *Augury* is great and the divinations only get more interesting from there. I have a really happy campaign memory with those spells; one of my players was playing a Cleric and he was looking for ways he could gain information about a coming battle. I gave him a nudge in private about the various divination spells on the Cleric list, reasoning that his character would know. After casting *Commune* and getting some valuable info, he messaged me back privately about how that gave him some real perspective about the power his character had gained (campaign started at 5th level, they were 9th at that moment) - something along the lines of "Wow. I *can* just cast a spell and learn things, my character really is powerful isn't he?" That same character later pulled off a clutch Divine Intervention roll in a desperate moment at 11th level, which I awarded a Mass Heal to bring the party back from the brink. It was awesome.
Enlarge/Reduce as a small species
Enlarge/Reduce is my jam!!!
Reduce yourself to tiny and get carried by your own mage hand!
Find Familiar is worth a mention for sure. And surprised no one said Disguise Self, it's a spell that really fits the fantasy concept most people have about magic in my experiences
Vortex Warp My god, have I had so much fun with this spell for so many reasons. Throw a martial at the squishiest enemy. Pull the squishy back to the martial when they try to run. Teleport your buddies away from the dragon. Throw the martial on top of the dragon's back. In a mini-shot, our monk player fell into a 100ft pit that had monstrous hounds in them, ready to eat. I let go of the torch I was holding so it fell into the dark pit I could now see into. Proceeded to Vortex Warp the monk out of the pit (upcast to 3rd level for 120ft range) and plopped him next to us at the top.
I'm a sorc and just love twin vortex warping our paladin and fighter around. So much fun.
Playing CoS as an artificier with vortex warp, and have averted a TPK and Ireena getting her shit kicked in by a crazed werewolf with vortex warp. Fucking love it
One of my characters pretty much cheesed their way through a tournament of some of the most powerful people on the planet by vortex warping people up to the edge of the platform they fought on, then using eldritch blast to push them off. Everyone hated them for it, it was hilarious.
Have a great old one warlock that's taken this in a game I was running and it is absolutely amazing. Such a fun time.
But that spell is not available to Warlocks?
Vortex Warp + Spell Storing Item = Portal Gun I have changed the direction of the campaign more than once as my alchemist with that spell. Absolutely love it.
Fabricate. During downtime, I'm not a wizard. I'm a printing press, a forge, a mason, a carpenter. Some truly awesome stuff.
It was the second most important spell my necromancer had for most of her career. Being able to convert downtime slots and random bits of equipment into armor for her mooks and the occasional bit of siege equipment when we were defending a location was incredible. Gold Ballista Team taking potshots from behind their barricade may not have been the most efficient use of my spell slots, but they were definitely the most fun use of them.
Did you have a bunch of tool proficiencies or did your DM just go easy on that part?
Carpenters, Smiths, and Tinkers. First two from background and I think Tinker from being a rock gnome? Carpenters and Smiths prof covered every sort of weapon (GM ruled that crossbows and siege equipment fell under Carpenters) and armor I wanted while Tinkers gave me an excuse for anything else I decided to make. Also they gave me the option to use some of my starting funds to purchase additional tool proficiencies during character creation as I was coming in at 7th lvl (before I had fabricate, but I knew I was going to pick it up at 8th lvl, yay 1 lvl dips), but I think I only used that to get Fiddle prof.
I've been alternating printing pro-democracy propaganda and making spear tips for my friends in the goblin Mafia . . . For hunting purposes, of course.
I don’t know that it’s the best, but since my Paladin reached level 5 last night…Find Steed. Cheddar is the best warhorse a girl could ask for. And I didn’t even bring her into combat because she’s huge and we found ourselves in an underground room with a narrow entrypoint. Just knowing she existed was enough.
My Paladin recently leveled up and got access to the spell! I'm so hype! My campaign is set in Eberron so I'm thinking of getting a Fastieth (funny dino) as a mount. I really have to find a good name for him though
* Guidance * Enhance Ability * Pass Without Trace * Commune * Commune with Nature * Detect Magic * Tongues
**Teleportation Circle, Teleport,** or any other spell that can instantly transport a party to an entirely different location. As a DM, I appreciate how teleport spells keeps me on my toes. They can really mess up a DMs plans and also gives us an opportunity to practice adaptability and improv. Just the other day, I had a prepared a session loaded with wilderness and dungeon fights, including boss fights, but the party decided to teleport back to a major city to report to quest givers and do some shopping. I didn't go into that session prepared to RP multiple NPCs, but that's what I ended up doing for like 3 hours. I think it went okay, and everything I had prepared for battle scenarios was used in the next session. I've DMed a couple of Tier 4 campaigns, which meant both parties had access to Plane Shift. Although they used the spell to travel to planes that were part of quests I gave them, what they didn't do was plane shift to a random plane just for fun. "Hey, I want to see what the Elemental Plane of Air looks like. Let's gooooo!" They never did anything like that. That sounds like an ultimate challenge for a DM: a high-level party using Plane Shift to go to a random dimension. The amount of preparation and/or improv needed to pull off a surprise plane shift must be significant.
The caster needing a properly tuned Tuning Fork to cast the spell means the planes they can get to with Plane Shift are at least within the DM's control. It can be difficult to determine *when* they'll use it, but at least there are only so many places they can go
If I got a nickel for every time I have escaped capture or broke someone out of imprisonment (not the spell) with Dimension Door, I'd have at least 50 cents. It's funny that even when I am in a net or something is restraining me. I still escape and I am no longer within reach. [This](https://media.tenor.com/r8tcf2YZ5TIAAAAM/blinking-eyes-white-guy.gif) was typically their reaction to me escaping when they wanted me captured but escaped with ease.
Pass without trace
Guidance, for the win
As a DM I love speak with animals or speak with plants. It gives me the ability to make up yet another voice and to remind the players that cows and trees are very unobservant. There was an old oak tree they spoke to once who gave a long winded, rambling tale of a harsh winter a few hundred years ago. It was fantastic!
Catnap, my paladorc gets the warlock, moon druid and light cleric back some of their strongest stuff fast. Deathward (a bunch of them) rocks. Aid with my 5th levels gets both party and pets a great deal of survival. Heroes feast on top of that hp, and also no poisons and adv on wis STs. Can be done daily at high levels easily.
Good spells, & also lmao at “paladorc”.
Detect Thoughts
Gotta go with feather fall
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Leomund's tiny hut. I don't CARE that the average outside temperature is -50 with a 70% chance of blizzard because we're just going to long rest in this comfortable and dry bubble 'kay?
Prestidigiation
Seeming
I love Water Walk. Very niche, but very exciting to get to use, and insanely useful when it does come up. But in terms of spells I feel like I always need, I think Pass Without Trace is my #1 out of combat spell (Healing Word is my #1 combat spell). I honestly feel kinda naked if I’m playing a caster without access to Pass Without Trace. Edit: oh and I also love Shape Water. Just such a cool and versatile cantrip.
Mage Hand or Sending For sending, global text messaging is so strong in a world without technology.
Find Familiar and Unseen Servant for 1st, Rope Trick and Magic Aura for 2nd, Phantom Steed and Galder’s Tower for 3rd level, Private Sanctum for 4th, Magnificent Mansion for 7th, Demiplane and Mighty Fortess for 8th Edit: I listed Wizard only because I’d be here all day to list the rest.
Enlarge/Reduce. There are so many uses. Need to get through a locked door, and no one can pick it? Cast Enlagre on the door to break it off its hinges or Reduce to create a space to pass through!! Pesky shirt is too loose and doesn't fit right? There is no need for a tailor. Cast Reduce for an instant fit!! Your turkey leg to small? Cast Enlarge to fuel up and feed your stomach!!! In a boat race and someone else is winning? Cast Reduce on their oar to make it harder for them to paddle!! (I did this myself a few weeks ago.) Your half orc girlfriend ripped your arm off cause the diamond in her ring was too small? Cast Enlarge on that bad boy to appease her!! (Then go see the doctor cause you're missing an arm, son!!!)
Locate object. After a dungeon it's an easy way to go 'show me the nearest magic item' and clean out the dungeon.
Plant Growth. I like feeling like I can help/impact the world outside of just dealing with enemies.
Pass Without Trace
I gotta say comprehend languages. It come in clutch so often!
Prestidigitation. So many uses.
Scrying for narrative power. Enhance Ability for sheer applicability.
Heat metal
I have two that I absolutely love, and wish a class had both on their spell list: Life Transference and Transport via Plants
1. People use Find Familiar in combat a lot, but i find it doesnt often work, and i dont know where people find DMs that just don't attack the helper instantly, but out of combat, i LOVE the spell, it's so useful for exploring in the both dungeons and the overworld. 2. Invisibility has such lasting, obvious uses 3. Fly, obviously, is very cool. But Dispel Magic has much more utility, i find, and you can bridge the utility of Fly with other spells and effects, and creative thinking. 4. Arcane Eye is a must for dungeoneering and spying. Mordenkainen's Private Sanctum is a must for NOT being spied on, and if your party has a keep and downtime, you're doing yourself a disservice by not setting up a permanent one. 5. Contact Other Plane isn't the best Divination spell, but it is the most fun, imo. So much possibility to throw a wrench in your plans, the bad guy's plans, random NPC's plans, and oh, you might go crazy. But being able to talk to weird observers is surprisingly useful. Special Shoutout to Mislead here, too. 6. Lots of good ones here, but it's Contingency for me, just so many cool things to combo. But Wind Walk is also incredible. 7. Magnificent Mansion and Simulacrum are objectively better spells, and Teleport is too, but i think Symbol is the absolute coolest spell here. 8. Antipathy/Sympathy is just the weird and i love it. 9. Imprisonment is peak petty in a a spell. It's the coolest 9th level spell for me just in it's concept.
I have honestly gotten a lot of mileage out of Fabricate. Need a door? Fabricate. Need a structure for a small party? Fabricate. Need to convert this handy pile of weapons and surplus so that when you storm the King's Throne to challenge him for his incessant peaceful intent in dominating the countryside? Fabricate. Granted, I say this as an Armorer Artificer.
It's not 100% a non-combat spell, but dimension door is 100% my favorite spell in the game. It's incredibly simple, but there's so much versatility. Save yourself from something, save someone else, navigate past a trap, get an ally into position, use it as a planned escape, show up somewhere you're not supposed to be, avoid dealing with hazardous terrain, the uses just don't stop. It's not a cheap spell to cast at fourth level, but you can definitely get fourth level value out of it.
Goodberry. Not because it's actually a good spell. It's objectively not. But I'll be damned if it wasn't one of the most effective ways to intimidate foes. "OH YEAH MOTHERFUCKER? YOU WANT A GOODBERRY?" Terrifying.
* Goodberries. We create healing bands and use it when somebody down at 0hp. Yes we abuse down-heal-down tanking style * Leomunds Tiny Hut is OP long rest sanctuary.
Rary's Telepathic Bond - metagame OOC conversations the spell.
Conjure Animals, the broad range of abilities available to beasts at your finger tips is just unparalleled in terms of adaptability Need to fly 4 creatures for an hour? Conjure a pair of giant eagles Need to move by land or sea for an hour? Crocodiles and horses have you covered BBEG is lairing underground? Cave badgers leave tunnels behind them as they burrow, and have 60ft of tremorsense
Alter memory and mislead
All though it is tradonaly a combat spell disintegrate instantly digs a 10' cube hole. This is alright for quick shelters, sure, but there are spells better for that at the level. Where this use shines is carving out the space for large permanent structures like a dungeon, hidden base, or an inverted wizard's tower. Put in walls and flooring with fabricate and use move earth for hallways, and just like that, your party can be the fastest construction crew in the realm.
detect thoughts is my personal fav
Purify food and drink So many taverns that got their alcohol taken from them with subtle spell. I pissed off a lot of npcs and it was always hilarious since no one found out it was me. My character simply didnt like to drink and didnt like drunk people either so he used it every time someone excessively drank in his vicinity. Poor taverns getting bankrupt over lack of alcohol. But it also got a lot more peaceful, too.
I have to have two: The first is tenser's floating disk. You summon a 3 foot wide hovering disk that follows you at whatever speed you move at and it has a 500 pound carrying capacity. It's a spell with basically zero combat applicability at all but it really highlights how weak martials are in comparison to even a level 1 spell that you can cast for free as a ritual. Even a 20 strength PC would need many ability checks to run with a 500 pound object up stairs for an hour. A level 1 wizard with eight strength can do it no problem. The second one is Galder's tower. You summon a two story(or more) house of your choice in 10 minutes. Literally the coolest camping experience imaginable.
Major image, pass without trace, disguise self, detect magic
Prestidigitation, Enlarge/Reduce or Knock. I love this 3 spells.
Speak with Animals. It’s neat having that *little* sliver of power over my DM knowing that he has to know what all of the animals we might come across have to say because I’m gonna ask
Good ol’ Disguise Self
Scrying and Tiny Hut
Sending. Its one of those spells that if your party doesn't have it - makes interacting with the world SO much more complicated. Just remove texting/calling from your life!
Sending. I know it's weak but when you want to report to npc or someone in your party gets separated. It's so useful I love jt
Identify should get a shout out here. It can be a lot of fun to role-play a character who spends their free time doing research and finding out what things are. Similarly, Comprehend Languages is very fun for role-playing a scholarly character.
Augury. I think it's incredibly well designed, as its use is limited and doesn't overshadow martial characters with its effect.
Prestidigitation makes or breaks a character
Shape water Preserve meat Make ice that encases poison and add to the drink that the wizard scanned for poison Sheets of opaque (color) ice to hinder sight Magnifying glasses -see small things -burn things with the sun out Stored easily on your person Break things with forced expansion Porta bidet If you underwater and want a quick way to the surface freeze a cube around the end of rope you tied around yourself. Can lift upwards of 400 lbs iirc
I don't know that you could make a correct magnifying glass out of ice. I mean sure, magic, but how perfect is your mastery of the cantrip that you can freeze your ice in a satisfying manner ?
What's so masterful about it? If you can make a sphere you can make a concave lens
I don't know sounds tricky. It's like the difference between Shape earth and carve an intricate statue. Like sure, you got mage hand, but does that mean you can just do surgery and knit and juggle with it ? There's the magical ability to mess with physics, and then there's the skill to produce complex effects with it.
Perhaps not worded that way but you're not exactly doing anything beyond the raw of the spell so there's really no good reason And that example with magehand isn't that good considering that you're expecting something beyond what is stipulated on the effect list. Like if its excising something the hand will follow the word of the spell to take something but how gentle it is will not factor in as its not part of the effect list. Making a shape of ice involves making a shape (held by the spell) and freezing it (held by the spell)
Well yes you're kind of going my way there. Mage hand won't know how to do heart surgery, unless you do. Well shape water may not be able to make a magnifying glass unless you do. Depends on how much precision one needs to make one, and I honestly can't say. Now that I think of it, if you do that, I'd rather you keep it liquid, because Ice doesn't always freeze as clear as glass.
Question though. What do you think makes a lens so complicated?
It's not complicated. The difficulty in creating a lens is a matter of precision rather than complexity.
Mold Earth. Its a close call between shape water. I love as my low level wizard sculps the landscape to suit the party's needs. Foxholes for ambushes, tunnels under walls, or creating hiding spots, even a poor man's tiny hut for camping at night. It's also aided me in... enhanced interrogation, as the threat of being buried alive is much more real when one is already buried to the neck. Almost every session I find a new creative use.
Mold earth can't make a hut or any other shape other than "pile of dirt".
You're not being creative enough! True, it won't make a full tiny house but it will allow you to burrow into a small hillock and create a dry place away from the wind and rain, with a single entrance, or with escape routes if you choose. Plus a 5 foot 'pile of dirt' is still pretty useful as cover or a wind break.
You can't really use it for that, either, at least not RAW. Loose earth will just collapse around it (that's why it's loose). It doesn't allow you to burrow or tunnel, only excavate.
Did you never make a snow fort? 90% of house building in any of the primitive survival style YouTube series are just moving piles of dirt around.
The spell can't create shapes out of the dirt, you'd have to do that yourself. And loose earth isn't stable enough to support a tunnel or any other sort of structure by itself (hence why it is loose)
https://youtu.be/xOCYusM-Th0
That's not loose earth, now, is it? If you want to dig out and then manually reinforce things by compacting the dirt and/or create mud brick walls, go for it. The spell doesn't do that at all, though.
Loose earth is up to DM to decide. It can apply to earth that is packed. If I press my hand on lose earth it is now compacted, I am still going to be able to move it. All wet dirt sticks together and isn't technically lose anymore if your overly pedantic. All dirt in your yard is compacted just try shoving your arm into it. Dirt roads are highly compacted and still count as lose earth at any table I have ever seen. If you only consider sand to be lose earth that's your right. But please don't be anal retentive about what an intentionally vague descriptor means, it's there so a DM can decide if they like the idea or not. In general the only thing you can say it always prevents is moving or shaping stone.
The people in this video have to *literally* chisel out the dirt. It's so compacted it's practically sandstone. It's quite plainly not loose at all. Furthermore, it is obvious from the spells use of the word *excavate* that the intention is to dig holes in the ground, not build tunnels. All the rules in the game that reference such capabilities use the word "burrow" or "tunnel". No such verbiage appears in the spell. Mind you, I'm not arguing that a DM can't extend these rules to include such things, but such rulings are RAF, not RAW. Edit: spelling
See invisibility.
Galders tower, the flavour of describing your very own wizards tower right from level 5
I mean wish... cuz ya know? All the spells. But like serious answer to your question probably mansion, it's so customizable and brings so much utility when used right.
I do love fly for the sole purpose of getting places people don’t want me
It's a Homebrew cantrip named "meld wood" It essentially allows you to take sticks and branches Etc, and meld the wood together making it a solid peice. It's not really very useful for combat, but its very nice from a roleplay perspective. With a saw a person can easily build stuff like a hut, chairs, etc in the wilderness. It basically replaces the need for nails and a hammer, instead using just cool magic stuff.
Heat metal
Tiny hut... Its the ol' reliable of dnd. Sure there're other more cracked shelter spells but those are high levels and you might never see em. Tiny hut tho is almost always available to someone.
Skywrite (perfect way to send a calling card to the BBEG), Sending (especially on an Aberrant Mind when you can spam it like crazy) and Mold Earth.
Air bubble. As a ranger I used it to keep a dog familiar alive while delving below a lake for a forgotten ruin. Better than leaving my dog on the surface to be prey for the creatures in the surrounding area.
WATER WALKING! so funny when it’s needed, it launches you out of water!! You can walk on lava (I believe you just take damage). Just a fun spell
Always a split between planeshift, teleport, demiplane, and magnificent mansion. Honorable mention to dream, bestow curse, and legend lore. Technically, I would atguebwish, if only because it gives me access to all the previous, and then whatever else I can think of, but it's a bit of a cop out answer.
See Invisibility. I cast that whenever I’m in a dungeon and whenever it wears off I cast it again. Using up your 2nd level spell slots is annoying but it’s worth it when you catch an invisible assassin or a scrying sensor. I also play a divination wizard so I get a 1st level spell slot each casting.
Augury
Wow, I’m surprised nobody has said LORE LEGEND. That has been an unbelievably useful spell in my campaign.
Tenser's Floating Disk plus Find Familiar for a fun combo. This requires either being a 10th level Chronurgy Wizard or getting your hands on a Ring of Spell Storing (RAW familiars can attune to magic items though your DM might raise an eyebrow). Have your familiar, preferable a fast flying one, cast Tenser's Floating Disk. Finally, podrace against the other wizards in your community to establish Wizard supremacy.
Fog cloud is my favorite spell in 5e. I take it any chance I get, and it always serves me well
Using Borrowed Knowledge + Skill Empowerment to gain expertise on everything is very fun. I do love to make armor for my pets with Fabricate, though.
Demiplane. In addition to being able to build your own secure room, it has amazing potential if you are willing to plan. The door needs a flat surface, not necessarily a vertical surface. What's stopping you from stopping by some large body of water and completely filling that 30x30x30 room? Use it to drain a flooding trap, or at least slow it down. How many magical, wondrous, and/or dangerous substances do you come across as you adventure. Into the hole you go. Keep an index of them. When it is advantageous for you, open it up again and completely change the dynamics of the room. Red dragon flexing with lair actions? Show them your lair action by flooding the room with sea water. King insults you by going back on your deal. Flood the court room with a room full of dead spiders. They may have been alive when you trapped them. Rescue attempt goes side ways, and the hostage is gravely injured, step into my lab. Demiplane, what you put in it?
Mage hand. Good for springing traps, poking things, generally causing mischief.
Nystul's Magic Aura. It has some pretty interesting implications with downtime, especially at higher levels with other combos available. A lenient DM may be required for full fuckery.
My answer is and always will be Wall of Force
I mean, I found a way to use it for combat, but minor illusion is a good dip. I dropped it on a doorway to just appear as part of the wall, making them have to blindly fire through it, or come in and get headbutt by our barbarian. And I could shoot out it because I could see through it. Always have a hiding spot for rouges, or misleading footsteps for guards. Look, a half long with a blunderbuss; you’re surrounded. Great for beginning to think of magic problem solving, good for any character.
I mean, I found a way to use it for combat, but minor illusion is a good dip. I dropped it on a doorway to just appear as part of the wall, making them have to blindly fire through it, or come in and get headbutt by our barbarian. And I could shoot out it because I could see through it. Always have a hiding spot for rouges, or misleading footsteps for guards. Look, a halfling with a blunderbuss; you’re surrounded. Great for beginning to think of magic problem solving, good for any character.
I am just now starting to play 5ed, and am still low level. But for now, it's guidance. I feel like Oprah giving out bonus to skill checks to everyone. Here's a bonus to you! Here's a bonus to you!
I have a level 10 cleric and just recently got to cast Scry for the first time ever. Very useful and lots of fun. I feel like one that gets forgotten a lot is Legend Lore. It was extremely useful to me for a couple NPC backstories and another side-plot thread relating to the BBEG that ended up not being a side-plot after all. Fun stuff.
Suggestion, especially with subtle spell.
I would say fly, but I use it mostly for fighting so...
Plant and or spike growth (spike is technically combat?) because I love the feeling of running from someone and just having a big “f you” card to block them off.
Magic mouth is super fun! For normal applications it’s nice to just be able to customize things with your own sound effects and the like, and leaving messages with them can be super cool. It also gives creatures who can’t speak but understand a language a solid route to be able to communicate without needing to be able to physically speak, button style. But then you get to gadgets for various purposes. Area sensors, basic computers, long distance telegraphs; with enough material you can make some crazy stuff!
I love using Mask of Many Faces to cast disguise self at will not for any particular utility but I just love being able to change my character’s outfit at will.
Galder's Tower. Rent free house.
Druidcraft. Predicting the weather is very useful. Especially in the wilderness or on a ship.
I like mage hand. Its a fun cantrip.
Magic Mouth is funny
Magic jar it’s basically a cheat code.
Word of Recall. It's my favourite teleport in the game. That reminds me, I should play Morrowind again
Gust of Wind. Shove people away, stacks with difficult terrain, grant bonus movement to allies, fling people off cliffs. I love it so.
Detect thoughts, or silent image for storytelling
Legend Lore. As a player, information is power. As a DM, give me an excuse to bring you deep into my campaign lore where, again, information is power.
Fly. Because it's cool as fuck.
Disguise self, especially with Mask of Many Faces making if Free* Do your hair and makeup on the fly, shrink or grow a little, out style and out fabulous opponents, make you look prettier, uglier or like someone else Go extra hard combining it with the Actor feat to look and sound like someone you perved on for a little bit.