Prestidigitation: when laundry *is* your biggest problem

[Redblade8]

Hey,

Indulge a little hypothetical speculation on my lunch break....

Say I'm on an infiltration mission. I've snuck away from the Ball, and en route to my objective, came across some palace guards that had to be "taken care of.". That's done, but now my clothes look like I'm Carrie White's prom date. Would the 'cleaning' function of the prestidigitation cantrip get my clothes clean again? What about the mess on the floor?

Thanks,
Ghorrin

[Ulfsarkar]

I would think so, it might take a bit but it seems like like this is the exact sort of thing Prestidigitation would be used for.

[Orfamay Quest]

I'd say "yes" to both. That's basically what the spell is for.

[Kwauss]

It may take some time, but this is a good use of the spell.

[Tiny Coffee Golem]

Yes across the board.

[Ipslore the Red]

Yup.

Uhoh, unanimous agreement on Paizo? Quick, someone start an argument about corner cases, the meaning of "clean", or something else before the end of the world starts.

[Orfamay Quest]

Let me turn it around. Why did you think the answer could or should be "no"?

[Ipslore the Red]

Well, technically, you could argue that the blood is perfectly clean and is a form of dye, not dirt. Although then you could just change its color.

[Imbicatus]

There is a lot less to clean if you use bludgeoning weapons instead of slashing. Internal Bleeding is better than external bleeding, from a mess point of view.

[Tiny Coffee Golem]

Ipslore the Red wrote:

Well, technically, you could argue that the blood is perfectly clean and is a form of dye, not dirt. Although then you could just change its color.

Um. no.

By that same argument dirt is a form of dye and thus non-cleanable.

[Fromper]

Ok, I'll try to come up with something to argue about. Does the spell actually remove the blood, or just color it to blend with the clothing it's splattered on?

[Zwordsman]

Could someone then blood biography the newly coloured stained blood on your shirt, as a form of CSI to tie you to the crime?

[Tiny Coffee Golem]

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.

Any reasonable definition of clean is covered. Personally for me covered in blood is not clean. Rubbing blood into my clothes is not clean.

[the Queen's Raven]

Of course it would not work. That is a perfectly logical use of a cantrip that makes the game incredably broken and unbalanced. There's no way in the 9 levels of the Abyss this would fly at my table. :-P

[blahpers]

It's magic. Don't sweat the small stuff, like where the blood goes and so on; leave that to the player to RP. Prestidigitation specifically cleans things, so let it clean things.

[Zwordsman]

I now can't help but think of prestidigitation as summoning that bald cleaning guy from the packages; the one in all white.

[Atarlost]

Ipslore the Red wrote:

Yup.

Uhoh, unanimous agreement on Paizo? Quick, someone start an argument about corner cases, the meaning of "clean", or something else before the end of the world starts.

I can turn it into a rogue argument if you like.

A Rogue can only cast prestidigitation three times a day and having the ability to do so means he didn't use minor magic on something like acid splash for ranged touch sneak attack during surprise rounds. Bards get several cantrips and they get them at will.

[LazarX]

Prestigitigation will cover some level of sloppiness. It's up to the GM to decide how much coverage the spell can give you. At some point however, you will either go beyond what the spell can cover, or more likely be in a position where the cleanup will take more time than you can spare.

So try to make your kills neater next time. :)

[the Queen's Raven]

Bards get several cantrips and they get them at will.
I knew Bards were way OP.

[JoeJ]

If I can't get all the blood out with a single use of Prestidigitation that will nullify my entire build and cripple my character. ;p

[the Queen's Raven]

Janitor PRC
Prequisites:
Lingustics 2 ranks
Ability to use prestidigitaion at will
Proficiency with all simple cleaning supplies

[Khrysaor]

It all depends on what your definition of is, is.

[Fromper]

You know, the more I think about it, the more I wonder whether the blood would actually go away, or just be removed from the clothes. ie Would prestidigitation pull all the blood out of your clothes, but still leave that blood all over the floor?

[Desidero]

Could you clean the insides of someone's veins in order to remove all their blood?

[PossibleCabbage]

Desidero wrote:

Could you clean the insides of someone's veins in order to remove all their blood?

I would say the magic is sensitive to context here. If the inside of someone's heart is covered in blood that *is* clean because the blood is *supposed* to be there. If your shoes are covered in blood, that is not clean because blood is not supposed to be on shoes.

[Imbicatus]

If they were already dead, maybe. If not, then no. That's what Horrid Wilting is for.

[Mike Franke]

Fromper wrote:

You know, the more I think about it, the more I wonder whether the blood would actually go away, or just be removed from the clothes. ie Would prestidigitation pull all the blood out of your clothes, but still leave that blood all over the floor?

But then the floor would be dirty and you could just clean the floor. Maybe you need a spell component like a bucket for all of the blood?

[Shroud]

Cleaning battle grime and blood off of armor and clothing is probably the primary use of Prestidigitation in every game I've ever been in. That, and making bad food taste edible.

[Silent Saturn]

Desidero wrote:

Could you clean the insides of someone's veins in order to remove all their blood?

Blood only counts as "dirty" when it's somewhere other than it's supposed to be. On your clothes, on the floor, etc. Inside someone's veins, I'd argue "cleaning" involves restoring their blood TO their veins, since that's what's supposed to be there.

[the Queen's Raven]

Could it be used to "clean" ink from a document? Or paint from a canvas?

[Dracoknight]

Hold on hold on hold ON!....
Did you guys just make up a silly reason to disagree and argue with eachother?....

[Khrysaor]

Cleaning the blood in the veins removes plaque and bad cholesterol. Prestidigitation is the health spa go to.

[Thornborn]

No argument that the cantrip should not be able to trump the higher-level-spell-granted scent power available from beast shape?

[/sarcasm]

It would remove the blood and grime and weapon holes if you'd been struck. It would remove any bonus to track by scent that the blood might have given, any bonus to identify you by sight that the blood might have caused.

It would not cause you to stop smelling like the 'guy who had been there', nor stop looking like the 'guy who had been there', but it would in each sense keep you from smelling/looking 'bloody'.

[Fromper]

Mike Franke wrote:

Fromper wrote:

You know, the more I think about it, the more I wonder whether the blood would actually go away, or just be removed from the clothes. ie Would prestidigitation pull all the blood out of your clothes, but still leave that blood all over the floor?

But then the floor would be dirty and you could just clean the floor. Maybe you need a spell component like a bucket for all of the blood?

Yeah, I'm actually thinking a cantrip shouldn't be powerful enough to violate the Law of Conservation of Mass. Then again, Acid Splash does it, but that's also a conjuration spell.

[Proley]

Let's say you're a 3 foot tall halfling covered in blood. Prestidigitation can clean a single 1-ft cube per round, so you'd take 3 rounds aka 18 seconds to clean yourself off with three castings. Granted, if you used a quickened metamagic rod, you could do this much faster. Of course, what do you do with the bodies?

[DrDeth]

Clean, certainly, but perhaps not beyond magic or the Scent ability. But for any casual observation, yes.

[Redblade8]

Proley wrote:

Let's say you're a 3 foot tall halfling covered in blood. Prestidigitation can clean a single 1-ft cube per round, so you'd take 3 rounds aka 18 seconds to clean yourself off with three castings. Granted, if you used a quickened metamagic rod, you could do this much faster. Of course, what do you do with the bodies?

Prop them up with a pair of sunglasses on, and cast Bernie Lomax Form III. Sheesh, do I have to think of everything? :)

Ghorrin

[lemeres]

Outside of people that are purposefully being contrary, I think that we can all agree that this is a legitimate use of this spell.

My question is this- can I then use the 'soiling' function in order to make someone else bloody? As in, if you encountered 2 guards, put one to sleep and stabbed the other, could you frame the other guy by making him 'red handed'?

No one specifically says what happens to the blood when it is cleaned. Heck, even if it just goes *poof*, I could further ask whether the 'lift 1 pound of material' can't affect liquids. If I could make the blood float, it would be easy enough to carry it in a bucket to either dump on someone or use as the source of 'soil'.

Also, about how much of a hand would weigh '1 pound'? I mean, it is nonliving material at that point, right? Could I heat it up, leave it somewhere, and make people think the murder happened at a later time since it was still 'warm'?

Yeah....successful murders are all in the small details. And prestidigitation handles the little things, so you don't have to. Order now, and we will through in a free wand of haunted fey aspect so you can keep those kids and their dog from ruining your plans!

[Atarlost]

Proley wrote:

Let's say you're a 3 foot tall halfling covered in blood. Prestidigitation can clean a single 1-ft cube per round, so you'd take 3 rounds aka 18 seconds to clean yourself off with three castings. Granted, if you used a quickened metamagic rod, you could do this much faster. Of course, what do you do with the bodies?

Nope. Prestidigitation gives you the ability to perform prestidigitation effects for one hour. That means quickening it does not substantially improve your cleaning rate, but it does mean you only need one casting unless you're cleaning an area that takes more than an hour to clean with prestidigitation.

[Tacticslion]

Dracoknight wrote:

Hold on hold on hold ON!....

Did you guys just make up a silly reason to disagree and argue with eachother?....

Yes. Welcome to Paizo forums: a HAPPY place! :D