D&D 5e players share “genius” ways they’ve used the worst spell in the game

Prestidigitation might be a terrible Cantrip, but some D&D 5e players have worked out ways to make it useful.

Prestidigitation (formerly known as Cantrip in the days of AD&D) is often considered the weakest or worst spell in the game, as it creates minor effects within some strict boundaries. It’s the polar opposite of Wish, the best spell in the game, which can do anything, so long as you word your wish correctly.

In short, Prestidigitation can create small sensory effects, light/put out small fires, clean small objects, warm up or add flavor to nonliving matter, leave a mark for an hour, or create a trinket that lasts for a few seconds. You can have three of these epic-tier arcane powers active at once.

Players on the DnD Reddit have devised ways to make Prestidigitation useful, thanks to suggestions made in a thread where an OP used it to improve food.

“My artificer is a homebrew insectoid alien that is currently in financial dept so he goes to a coastal scrapyard at the bottom of a cliff and eats exclusively crabs and seagulls,” the OP wrote, “Through the cantrip changing their taste to chicken and beef its what he makes all food taste like, he also changes the taste of coffee to be more sweet, cleans a rusty iron pot he found in scrap etc.”

Possibly, the best use came from one user who had an idea for using Prestidigitation as a communication system. ” My favorite use for Prestidigitation is short-term, long-range, essentially undetectable coded information sending for scouting (…) There is no range limitation on ending an effect, so once cast, you can remove from anywhere.”

“If you mark three stones with a different color, you can leave them with someone to watch for your signal, you tell them to note which color drops first, then to wait two rounds to see if any other colors do. You can prearrange up to 15 different messages this way, more if you want to increase the length of time they should watch and make pauses mean something.”

“Prestidigitation means no need to carry toilet paper. That’s just a win that keeps on winning,” one user wrote, and another responded, “Also means no laundry. Even the Frieren manga made the joke that a spell that does laundry for you has to be an awesome magic from a mythical age If you live in a medieval setting not doing backbreaking labour to maintain your appearance is very handy.”

Another user had an idea that could create a booming dessert economy in the Forgotten Realms. “Prestidigitaiton is able to freeze water around a wooden stick, and then flavor it like sweetened chocolate. Being able to get sugary treats out of basically nothing has good social utility, and is very flavorful for a character.”

Prestidigitation has an incredible variety of uses that are restrained by the spell’s limitations. These boundaries lead to endless creativity from the players, who can twist the weakest spell into something useful, under the right circumstances.