Prestidigitation

This spell is a minor magical trick that novice spellcasters use for practice.

Prestidigitation was an arcane cantrip that allowed a caster to perform minor, relatively harmless magic tricks. The wu-jen version of this spell was not considered a cantrip. It improved the caster's pickpocket skill and let them transport small items about their person in the blink of an eye. Its reversible form was known as fumble-fingers and lowered the manual dexterity of a target creature for a short time.

The spell comes easy to you—it always has. With a simple wave of your hand and a single word, you conjure the effect to the delight of onlookers. A shower of sparks, a snuffed-out candle, a glowing symbol hanging in the air, a dancing figure in the palm of your hand. As quickly as it appeared, it vanishes—just a hint at the power magic holds. A mere taste of what the arcane has to offer.

Prestidigitation PHB p267 Transmutation cantrip Casting Time: 1 action Range: 10 feet Components: V, S Duration: Up to 1 hour This spell is a minor magical trick that novice spellcasters use for practice. You create one of the following magical effects within range:
You create an instantaneous, harmless sensory effect, such as a shower of sparks, a puff of wind, faint musical notes, or an odd odor. You instantaneously light or snuff out a candle, a torch, or a small campfire. You instantaneously clean or soil an object no larger than 1 cubic foot. You chill, warm, or flavor up to 1 cubic foot of nonliving material for 1 hour. You make a color, a small mark, or a symbol appear on an object or a surface for 1 hour. You create a nonmagical trinket or an illusory image that can fit in your hand and that lasts until the end of your next turn. If you cast this spell multiple times, you can have up to three of its non-instantaneous effects active at a time, and you can dismiss such an effect as an action.
Classes: Artificer, Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Subclasses: Arcana Cleric, Arcane Archer Fighter, Arcane Trickster Rogue, Eldritch Knight Fighter Races: Elf (High), Elf (High; Aereni), Elf (High; Valenar), Half-Elf (Variant; Moon Elf or Sun Elf Descent), Halfling (Mark of Hospitality), Kobold, Merfolk (Ixalan; Blue), Merfolk (Zendikar; Cosi Creed), Merfolk (Zendikar; Ula Creed), Tiefling (Abyssal) Feats: Aberrant Dragonmark, Arcanist, Artificer Initiate, Artificer Initiate, Cartomancer, Initiate of High Sorcery, Magic Initiate, Strixhaven Initiate Other Options/Features: Pact of the Tome Source: PHB, page 267. Available in the SRD and the Basic Rules.

The Thieves Guild > Spells > Prestidigitation Spells & Rituals Prestidigitation Transmutation Cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action Range: 10 ft Components: V, S Duration: 1 hour This spell is a minor magical trick that novice spellcasters use for practice. You create one of the following magical effects within range: You create an instantaneous, harmless sensory effect, such as a shower of sparks, a puff of wind, faint musical notes, or an odd odor. You instantaneously light or snuff out a candle, a torch, or a small campfire. You instantaneously clean or soil an object no larger than 1 cubic foot. You chill, warm, or flavor up to 1 cubic foot of nonliving material for 1 hour. You make a color, a small mark, or a symbol appear on an object or a surface for 1 hour. You create a nonmagical trinket or an illusory image that can fit in your hand and that lasts until the end of your next turn. If you cast this spell multiple times, you can have up to three of its non-instantaneous effects active at a time, and you can dismiss such an effect as an action. Verbal Component: Creo Medeis Novicius Verbal Component (Alternative): A dash of magic. An arcane trick. A mudane casting, simple and quick.
Classes: Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard, Rogue, Artificer
Tags: Utility
Source: Player's Handbook [5th Edition] (page 267)
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Effect

This cantrip allowed the caster to choose from a wide variety of small, innocuous effects to occur within a 10‑foot (3‑meter) radius of the caster. Things you could do with prestidigitation included

• levitate or move an object of 1 pound (0.45 kilograms) or less
• create a small sensory effect, such as a burst of sparks, tinkling music, a strange odor, or a puff of air
• clean or soil items no bigger than 1 cubic foot (28 cubic decimeters)
• remove from sight all dust in a small area
• ignite or douse a candle, torch, or small campfire
• chill, warm, or flavor a pound of non-living material
• temporarily create a small item or image
• turn a small item invisible for a short time
• change a small animal, vegetable, or mineral into another of the same kingdom
• place a small mark or symbol on a surface for up to an hour
• alter the color of an object
• freshen wilted flowers or food
• create a glowing sphere that hovered over the caster's palm
• dry an object like clothing or herbs, or dampen an object, making it more fire resistant
• produce a 6‑inch (15‑centimeter) finger of flame
• gather small objects into a neat pile or stack
• join or repair leather or textiles by stitching them together
• tie a rope or cord to itself, another string-like object, or an anchoring device

Objects created by this spell were generally simple, crude, and very fragile—unable to fool most people that they were anything but imitations of real objects. They could not be used as components for other spells, or as tools or weapons, and they disappeared in a few seconds to an hour.

Discovery

History

The later versions of this spell could be cast as many times as the caster desired, but only a maximum of three "continuous" effects could be active at a time. Earlier spellcasting traditions had limits on how many cantrips could be held in the mind at one time.

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Classes: Artificer, Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard
Classes (legacy): Artificer (Revisited)
Subclasses: Arcana Cleric, Arcane Archer Fighter, Arcane Trickster Rogue, Eldritch Knight Fighter
Races: Elf (High), Half-Elf (Variant; Moon Elf or Sun Elf Descent), Halfling (Mark of Hospitality), Tiefling (Abyssal)
Tags: Utility

Prestidigitation

Transmutation Cantrip

Material Components

The newer versions of prestidigitation only required somatic and verbal components to cast. The older, wu jen versions, also required a drop of oil to be rubbed on the fingertips. Fumble-fingers instead had the caster flick the drop of oil toward the intended target.

Gestures & Ritual

Verbal, Somatic
Verbal Component: Creo Medeis Novicius
Verbal Component (Alternative): A dash of magic. An arcane trick. A mudane casting, simple and quick.

Related Discipline

Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard, Rogue, Artificer

Related School

Transmutation

Effect Duration

1 hour

Effect Casting Time

1 action

Range

10 feet

Level

Cantrip

PHB, page 267. Available in the SRD and the Basic Rules.

Prestidigitation

0-level (Cantrip) Transmutation

Casting Time: 1 action

Range/Area: 10 feet

Components: Verbal, Somatic

Duration: up to 1 hour

This spell is a minor magical trick that novice spellcasters use for practice. You create one of the following magical effects within range:

• You create an instantaneous, harmless sensory effect, such as a shower of sparks, a puff of wind, faint musical notes, or an odd odor.
• You instantaneously light or snuff out a candle, a torch, or a small campfire.
• You instantaneously clean or soil an object no larger than 1 cubic foot.
• You chill, warm, or flavor up to 1 cubic foot of nonliving material for 1 hour.
• You make a color, a small mark, or a symbol appear on an object or a surface for 1 hour.
• You create a nonmagical trinket or an illusory image that can fit in your hand and that lasts until the end of your next turn.

If you cast this spell multiple times, you can have up to three of its non-instantaneous effects active at a time, and you can dismiss such an effect as an action.

Available for: Artificer, Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard