Mage Hand: For Those Lonely Friday Nights
Usable By: Artificer, Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard
Spell Level: 0 (cantrip)
School: Conjuration
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 30 feet
Duration: 1 minute
Components: V, S
A spectral, floating hand appears at a point you choose within range. The hand lasts for the duration or until you dismiss it as an action. The hand vanishes if it is ever more than 30 feet away from you or if you cast this spell again. You can use your action to control the hand.
You can use the hand to manipulate an object, open an unlocked door or container, stow or retrieve an item from an open container, or pour the contents out of a vial. You can move the hand up to 30 feet each time you use it.
The hand can’t attack, activate magic items, or carry more than 10 pounds.
Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold
Mage Hand is probably my most taken cantrip of all time. For a cantrip, you’ll be hard pressed to find something that gives you more creative options and power than this. Mage Hand may only be able to manipulate small amounts of weight, and it's definitely constrained by its fixed distance to you, but all of these elements make the tool complex. It's something I regularly want to play with because of the opportunities it opens up, and it's even better in the hands of an arcane trickster or sorcerer with subtle spell.
There are innumerable uses for an extra floating hand; we use our hands to navigate life. Imagine having a third one always within 20 feet of you that can do basically anything your regular hands can do! Fetch your phone from across the room, turn off a light switch a ways away, open the door for yourself while carrying boxes, the list just goes on and on. No put yourself in a magical world where you’ll be holding orbs, books, staffs, and the occasional goblin. Just having an extra hand to get a door open or snag a loose object from a pedestal can be invaluable in tense moments.
Beyond the mundane and apparent uses, messing with forces across a room from you can offer a whole suite of opportunities when it comes to deception and distraction. Knocking over the neatly stacked tower of wine glasses will get all the heads in the room to turn. Is a door locked from the inside, but you can see through a window? Flip up that latch with an easy Mage Hand, all without the guards noticing! Because the spell takes verbal and somatic components to cast, doing this subtly can be tricky, hence why I think sorcerers with subtle spell and arcane tricksters can get the most milage out of it. Still, even on your average bard or wizard, you’ll find yourself regularly wishing you could just have a buddy within five feet of an expensive vase to push it over. In those moments, Mage Hand is there for you.
Thank you for visiting!
If you’d like to support this ongoing project, you can do so by buying my books, getting some sweet C&C merch, or joining my Patreon.
The text on this page is Open Game Content, and is licensed for public use under the terms of the Open Game License v1.0a.
‘d20 System’ and the ‘d20 System’ logo are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
and are used according to the terms of the d20 System License version 6.0.
A copy of this License can be found at www.wizards.com/d20.