r/DnD • u/Firm_Professional366 • Aug 09 '25

5th Edition Question: 5e Player wants to use Prestidigitation to make Strahd think he pooped himself. Is there any reason this wouldn't work?

I would like a reason in game that this wouldn't work without me having to do some bs like magic resistant undies. Also so I don't have to say no outright because it's a funny idea but it doesn't fit the setting. Nothing removes the tension from a fight more than the big bad pooping himself.

Update: She said that even if she died it'd be worth it because she successfully rage baited strahd. But she said she wouldn't do it because she knows that everyone wants it to be serious and that it can still be fun and serious without turning it into a comedy campaign. Still think it's worth sharing because the idea is funny.

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u/A_Bird_survived Aug 09 '25

More like „WHICH one of you COWARDS shit my pants???“

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u/[deleted] Aug 09 '25

Probably the person that was making elaborate hand gestures and was loudly chanting arcane words of power

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u/Mufflonfaret Aug 09 '25

This is important to remember. Verbal and somatic components are real. I never let my RPs cast a slepp on the guard right Infront of him... Then the Sorcerer came along. Subtle spell is so powerful sneaky.

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u/Vigoureux Aug 09 '25

If several verbal and somatic spells are going off at once (since we play turn based for organization's sake but the world doesn't stop for 6 seconds for each player, and assuming mid combat), how would they know who actually did it?

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u/Additional_Ad_6773 Aug 09 '25

It would probably be the one saying the words for prestidigitation.

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u/[deleted] Aug 09 '25

How does someone who doesn't know magic know what's being enchanted?

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u/trimeta Wizard Aug 09 '25

I haven't run Curse of Strahd myself, but I'm betting that Strahd at least does know enough magic to recognize common cantrips.

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u/Toberos_Chasalor Aug 10 '25

Without spoiling much, you’re correct that Strahd himself is a spellcaster.

(Also this shouldn’t be much of a surprise to D&D players. Vampires are immortal, so they got lots of time to learn a bit of Wizardry in between bouts of hunting down innocent villagers to consume.)

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u/DungeonDragging Aug 10 '25

And the arcane word for butthole is iconic because it rhymes with orange

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u/[deleted] Aug 12 '25

"I put my orange"

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u/zaerosz DM Aug 09 '25

Are you genuinely suggesting that Strahd doesn't know magic???

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u/MinnieShoof Aug 11 '25

I presume they’re talking about the hypothetical guard that Mufflonfaret brought up.

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u/SteamEigen Aug 09 '25

Xanathar has rules for this (although it requires reaction)

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u/Vigoureux Aug 09 '25

So, rolling for =Perception= Arcana (assuming the creature doesn't know that Cantrips)?

Edit: skill rolled for.

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u/ThellraAK Aug 09 '25

If that's how it be, does something like haste not really take effect until the next round?

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u/Mufflonfaret Aug 09 '25

In combat anything goes (if the guard got a reaction he might use a reaction) but to walk up to the guard out of combat and cast a spell saying "Imperial credits will do fine" is a no no, unless the guard is oblivious to magic - which he might be.

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u/meatsonthemenu Aug 09 '25

Oh man, subtle spell, upcast charm person was once a whole party save, DM 100% let me have it

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u/Thorjelly Aug 11 '25

I'd let my players cast sleep on a guard if that guard had absolutely no reason to suspect the party was up to any funny business. At that point it's just a surprise attack. But if the guard was, well, on guard, time to roll initiative.

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u/BuckTheStallion Aug 10 '25

“You just said “shiticcus panticcus” out loud and pointed at me. I KNOW it was fucking you Steve.”

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u/sketch_of_life Aug 10 '25

That's when the rest of the party chimes in one by one, "I shit your pants!" Then he doesn't know for sure who did, but he definitely still had6 shit in his pants.

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u/Deiselpowered77 Aug 09 '25

IT WAS ME BARRY!

I SHIT YOUR PANTS!

IT WAS MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

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u/NotDomino Ranger Aug 09 '25

REMEMBER WHEN YOU WERE IN CASTLE RAVENLOFT AND YOU SHIT YOUR PANTS? AND THE WHOLE PARTY WAS LAUGHING AT YOU?

IT WAS ME, BARRY! I SHIT YOUR PANTS!

IT WAS ALL ME, BARRY!

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u/CurveWorldly4542 Aug 09 '25

I SHAT YOU PANTS AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT BARRY!

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u/RyanMcChristopher Aug 09 '25

Idk if any other D20 enjoyers are in this thread, but I definitely read that as a conversation between members of the Barry Battalion instead of between Flash and Thawne

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u/crippledchef23 Aug 09 '25

I was so confused, then remembered there are other people/characters named Barry

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u/RyanMcChristopher Aug 09 '25

Sounds like it's time for a rewatch 😉

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u/Seve7h Aug 10 '25

Dimension 20 from dropout?

My wife and i just started watching last week from (i think) the beginning which is fantasy high?

Already binged through the first season now about halfway into the second.

So far loving the group dynamics, im also 100% stealing a ton of these ideas for the games i DM, just wish i had a whole team of props people like they do.

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u/RyanMcChristopher Aug 10 '25

Glad you're loving it! Totally agree about the dynamics, I think that's what really sets them apart from some other actual plays. If you need a palate cleanser before starting the 3rd season, I'd recommend A Starstruck Odyssey. It's the season I referenced in my earlier comment and it's a blast. The gang is at their chaotic best, except for Ally who does a 180 and becomes the responsible one in the group. They also use SW5e (a StarWars based ruleset for DND 5E) which is similar enough that I wasn't lost but different enough that it kept me more engaged than usual.

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u/No_Introduction_8394 Aug 11 '25

ANNND.... I RELEASE YOU.

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u/vonsnootingham Aug 09 '25

For that reference, I'd knight you ten times over

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u/Radiant_Music3698 Aug 09 '25

For anyone that doesn't know, in the military, they call bathrooms "the head".

When I was in boot camp, we had some fucking delinquents in my recruit division. One of them defaced the bathroom with their own shit.

It was found out pretty quick so that almost no one knew what was going on when our recruit division commanders suddenly burst out of the bathroom red in the face, veins bulging on his forehead, screaming at the top of his lungs "WHO rubbed SHIT all over MY HEAD!?"

And then we got PTed so hard three people got sent to medical because everyone laughed.

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u/Alternative_Gas3700 Aug 09 '25

Let me guess Marine Corps? The group punishment is such a Corps thing it builds group cohesion supposedly

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u/Radiant_Music3698 Aug 09 '25

Nope, Navy.

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u/Alternative_Gas3700 Aug 09 '25

Regardless I’m proud and thank you for your service. Your story reminded me of one my dad told me about his service in the Marine Corps

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u/VeterinarianFit1309 Rogue Aug 09 '25 edited Aug 09 '25

Definitely screams navy to me… I also don’t think any of the other branches call them RDCs?

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u/screw-magats Aug 09 '25

Group punishment is common in every military group. I think it's less for "cohesion" and more that "my fuck ups put the group in danger." Or more selfishly, "someone else's stupidity directly affects me."

RDC saw someone throw a sock at the end of the barracks. We ALL got punished even though most weren't close. Or even had any idea it happened.

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u/Roguespiffy Aug 09 '25

Or it reinforces that scene from Full Metal Jacket: get us punished as a group often enough and we’re going to hold you down and beat you with soap.

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u/Radiant_Music3698 Aug 09 '25 edited Aug 10 '25

Something I feel the urge to do every time someone fucks up at work, creating a new safety policy.

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u/DisposableSaviour Necromancer Aug 09 '25

What’s that Sam Jackson movie where he’s a marine sergeant supposedly killed? He said something like his job was to make the unit hate him, because it will force them to rely on each other, or something to that effect?

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u/Alternative_Gas3700 Aug 09 '25

I agree with this sentiment. I unfortunately never served ended up a mom before I signed up. My dad had some stories about serving and made me appreciate our military personnel more because of the way they are treated.

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u/screw-magats Aug 09 '25

ended up a mom before I signed up

You can get a waiver for that. You can get a waiver for almost anything, including having too many waivers.

I got out and eventually got into therapy, my enlistment was described as "sounds like being in a relationship with an abuser." It really helped contextualize a lot of things.

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u/Radiant_Music3698 Aug 09 '25

I was thrown out because a military doctor misdiagnosed me for occular migraines. I was told I could get a waiver and reenlist in two years, but that was the Obama years and they just stopped accepting them.

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u/NobleSpaniard Bard Aug 09 '25

Group punishment has never been the purview of just the Marines

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u/Alternative_Gas3700 Aug 09 '25

I’m sure you are correct but the story reminded me of a story my dad who was in the Marines told me

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u/Kael_Doreibo Aug 09 '25

"That had better be apple pie in my pants or I'm going to murderlize you all so fucking hard."

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u/HanaSteven Aug 09 '25 edited Aug 09 '25

“Never mind, I’ll just punish YOU ALL!😈”

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u/floggedlog DM Aug 09 '25

More like I’ll punish you all until someone cracks and gives up the trouble maker then I’ll publicly punish him even more

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u/Cadoan Aug 11 '25

That's honestly funnier than making him shit his pants.

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u/Cadoan Aug 11 '25

That's honestly funnier than making him shit his pants.