Prestidigitations are minor tricks that novice spellcasters use for practice. Once cast, a prestidigitation spell enables you to perform simple magical effects for 1 hour. The effects are minor and have severe limitations. A prestidigitation can slowly lift 1 pound of material. It can color, clean, or soil items in a 1-foot cube each round. It can chill, warm, or flavor 1 pound of nonliving material. It cannot deal damage or affect the concentration of spellcasters. Prestidigitation can create small objects, but they look crude and artificial. The materials created by a prestidigitation spell are extremely fragile, and they cannot be used as tools, weapons, or spell components. Finally, prestidigitation lacks the power to duplicate any other spell effects. Any actual change to an object (beyond just moving, cleaning, or soiling it) persists only 1 hour.
Nowhere in the list of what it can do is making noise mentioned. The bolded section is important, b/c what you want to do is Ghost Sound, which can not be duplicated w/ Prestidigitation.
I would say the action you use w/ Prestidigitation would depend on what you were doing, but the default would be a standard action. In all honesty, it barely matters b/c I've never seen anyone use this spell in combat, so the actions don't really matter...
Prestidigitation could make some lightning cackle in your hand for a nifty display of "power" but you couldn't use it to set things on fire, do damage, etc. That's the difference.
Personally, something that's come up a few times in games for me, is whether or not you can use it to dye your hair.
Frequently people extend the notion of "Cleaning" to "Grooming" - and it's really not a problem at all.
But sometimes people argue that it's closer to Disguise Self, and thus coloring your hair can't be done.
Except you're not changing your appearance enough that it would actually hide anything or fool anyone.
Personally, I feel this is a totally reasonable use. (Especially when you consider Coloring only lasts an hour and provides no numeric benefit)
The only combat use I've ever seen for it, is dramatic FLAIR!
Had a sorcerer once use it to make a dimly glowing crude fuzzy sphere, with a bluff check to some goblins:
"This is your only chance! If you do not wish to end up like your fellows, flee now, or face the FUZZY ORB OF DEATH!"
That was a hilarious use. Really, it was strictly a bluff check to imply the object would be their doom, but it gave the vehicle for the situation.
Another time, a Magus type character used the simple breeze option to cause his cloak and hair to flicker in wind that didn't exist, while using an intimidate check to scare off his opponents in a more dramatic fashion.
In both cases, I as the GM loved it so much I gave them a small circumstance bonus to their checks.
Mostly, players just use it to make rations taste better, to chill beverages, to clean things, and to pull pranks - Such coloring a paladin's full plate to be a pink girly design, complete with flowers.
Had'em roll a craft check for that. Was really well done, but the paladin was not amused... Heh.
Mostly, players just use it to make rations taste better, to chill beverages, to clean things, and to pull pranks - Such coloring a paladin's full plate to be a pink girly design, complete with flowers.
Had'em roll a craft check for that. Was really well done, but the paladin was not amused... Heh.
LOL
If you wanted to make noise you could use this property "Prestidigitation can create small objects, but they look crude and artificial" to create an object and let it drop nearby to create sounds.
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If you wanted to make noise you could use this property "Prestidigitation can create small objects, but they look crude and artificial" to create an object and let it drop nearby to create sounds.
I don't remember where I read it, but I think any sort of conjuration or summoning needs to happen on a solid surface. You can't use a spell to create a piece of concrete right above an enemy, for instance.
Might be wrong on this one, but if that's the case, it'd apply here even with a small object in the air dropping to create some sound.
Create the object in your hand, then toss it to the ground.
Ghost sound is what allows you to create sounds. Finally, prestidigitation lacks the power to duplicate any other spell effects. That to me would indicate that prestidigitation cannot create sounds.
Ghost sound is what allows you to create sounds. Finally, prestidigitation lacks the power to duplicate any other spell effects. That to me would indicate that prestidigitation cannot create sounds.
The "duplicate" thing doesn't just mean "do the same sort of thing." It means "do the same thing as well as X spell does it." Prestidigitation can move objects. Mage hand can move objects. Does this mean that prestidigitation is duplicating mage hand? No, because it can't move objects as well as mage hand can.
Ghost sound is more than just sound. It can be as loud as 4 human voices, form intelligible speech, and all that. It's not unreasonable to let prestidigitation do a nerfed version of that. Shorter range, only as loud as 1 human, can't form intelligible speech, whatever.
As for hair colouring: if Preste can make "crude and artificial" objects, then it could do the same for a colour. So you could dye your hair, but only in a primary, obviously fake colour.
Which negates the "disguise" issue.
My personal favorite is when my drunken monk (with a vow of cleanliness and the trait that allows one cantrip per day) uses it to clean and groom himself each morning, and then cleans the area around him with the illusion of tiny pink elephants holding brooms in their trunks. Since he is ususally waking up in a tavern, this has rather amsing effects on the staff and any conscious patrons...
Yes, this exceeds RAW, but the DM allows it just for the amusment value.
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First Steps I: In Service to Lore:
Prank Trap CR 1/2
Type magic; Perception DC 15; Disable Device DC 15
Eff ects
Trigger touch; Reset automatic
Effect spell effect (prestidigitation, turns skin blue
for 3d20 minutes, Will DC 11 resists); multiple
targets (all creatures within 10 feet)
If it can do that, it can make just the hair change color for the duration, IMHO.
I don't remember where I read it, but I think any sort of conjuration or summoning needs to happen on a solid surface. You can't use a spell to create a piece of concrete right above an enemy, for instance.
Might be wrong on this one, but if that's the case, it'd apply here even with a small object in the air dropping to create some sound.
This same spell could levitate that object though. So conjure, raise, then abandon midair.
Although the devious part of me wants to make things more complicated. Create an object. lets say a wedge, and then place another on top of it. The top one slides off. If given enough time, I would want to devise some sort of Rube Goldburg machine from prestidigitation objects. Would that require a craft check?