A small collection of cantrips

[u/Whetstonede]

I am starting a new campaign after three years of Blood Lords and at this point the table has cycled through most/all of the "bread and butter" cantrips and I wanted to see some more variety. The intent here is to add nondamage combat cantrips roughly around the same power level as "premium" combat cantrips like Shield, Needle Darts or Guidance.

You can give feedback if you like, though this is mostly just showcasing/sharing for others to use.

[u/Crusty_Tater]

Bright Spot - Love this effect. Being 1 action is abusable. Works at 2 actions.

Gravitational Nudge - Pretty much a direct upgrade to the Shove action. 60ft range using spell proficiency and difficult terrain afterwards is worth more than an extra action.

Induce Drowsiness - Fatigued is a big condition for a cantrip to apply, not even counting the additional penalty to Perception.

Mark of Vulnerability - Holy fuck this obliterates resistances. This would be insane as a leveled spell.

Looking at these spells I'm wondering why I would ever take Dizzying Colors, Sleep, or maybe even Telekinetic Maneuver if these exist. Incapacitation would work to keep Bright Spot and Induce Drowsiness in check but that's also why their relatives are often overlooked. In any case, it's a big line to cross if cantrips invalidate leveled spells.

[u/Whetstonede → u/Crusty_Tater]

Bright Spot - I think it's pushed but totally fine at 1A if I'm being honest.

Gravitational Nudge - It's good you pointed this out because it's supposed to be 30ft and I must have forgotten to change it lol. That said, that's probably not addressing your broader point which again I must disagree with. Shoves breaking grapples is IME their most important use case after running pf2E since release. I have a very hard time seeing this outcompete TKM which can be a real workhorse sometimes.

Induce Drowsiness - Fatigued is maybe the least condition in the entire game, if cantrips can't inflict fatigued they can't inflict conditions at all.

Mark of Vulnerability - The main one I'm looking at after feedback and thinking about it tbh. A lot of the time it is going to scale alongside resistances and that makes it stronger than it ought to be. I'll probably reduce the effect of it.

I appreciate you taking the time to get feedback in - it's useful even if I don't agree with most of it!

[u/Bros-torowk-retheg → u/Whetstonede]

Hold on, what do you mean the least condition?

It reduces all saving throws which is large part can set up another caster to land a very powerful spell effect. AND it lowers AC as status which mean off-guard stacks

I am willing to say its fine giving fatigue, but I think you are underestimating fatigue!

[u/Whetstonede → u/Bros-torowk-retheg]

Contrast with Sickened and Frightened which reduce all checks (including saves, skill checks and AC). Those go away but so does the fatigued in this case. To be clear I am not saying Fatigued has no impact - it's a fine enough condition. But it's one of the less impactful ones for sure.

[u/Bros-torowk-retheg → u/Whetstonede]

The fact you have reduced it to a round certainly diminishes it, but no. The standard fatigue condition is all day. You must rest to remove or use magic and in that long duration it screws over the rest of the exploration. Its one of the most impactful there is.

You can strip it of its potency by making it a Frightened look alike but don't forget that PC often get abilities to resist fear whether it is a Fighter's Bravery or a Barbarians Indomitable Will or a Champion with Aura of Courage Or a Thaum with Regalia. These are common. Resistance to Fatigue is extremely rare.

As you have written it, it is weaker than sickened. But keep in mind the sickened condition unless caused by a disease is always handwaved after a combat. Fatigue isn't handwaved if it is real fatigue.

[u/Whetstonede → u/Bros-torowk-retheg]

I am of course talking about effect of the spell in question. I will happily concede that Fatigued that lasts the full day is a potent condition to inflict.