We will be using the cantrip non-weapon proficiency from Dragon Magazine, from the article entitled The Little Wish. I forget offhand which issue it was in. Anyway, I have made some modifications and clarifications to the article for use with my campaign, as reflected in this errata sheet.

Cost and availability:

Mages and specialist wizards can learn cantrip at a cost of two (2) proficiency slots. Specialty priests of Mystra and Azuth can learn it at a cost of three (3) proficiency slots. No one else can learn the cantrip proficiency.

The first-level spell Cantrip:

The Cantrip spell is still around, primarily used by Bards, for whom it is Common. The Wizard version of the spell is Rare, not because it is difficult or valuable but because few bother to learn it.

The "four-line rhyme":

I thought about this, but decided that it would bog the game down at times, or force players to write-up their cantrips ahead of time, which is against the whole idea. As such, I will not be requiring players to recite a rhyme every time they cast a cantrip.

However, every cantrip shall be presumed to have both verbal and somatic components unless it is appropriate to the cantrip for it to lack one. For no cantrip is it appropriate to lack both. Realize the order here - cantrips do not start with no components to which appropriate ones are added. They start with both verbal and somatic components and might drop one if it is clearly appropriate to the cantrip.

Uses per level:

This is unchanged for those to whom the proficiency is available with the following exceptions:

1. Cantrip mastery (unlimited cantrip use without rolls) comes at 11th level, not 5th. Until then the cantrip progression is as in the article.

2. Specialists do not get automatic cantrip mastery for their specialty. Instead, they are treated as two (2) levels higher when casting cantrips from their specialty. This means that they gain cantrip mastery for their specialty at 9th level. They are still banned from casting cantrips of their opposed schools.

3. Yes, this means that if the cantrip proficiency is learned late enough in one's career, one begins as a master. It takes a lot of EPs to get to the levels involved and that means a lot of firsthand experience studying and wielding magic.

School errata:

The ability to heat and cool drinks is erroneously attributed to the school of Abjuration. This is an Alteration effect. An Abjuration effect along these lines would be to preserve heat or cold in a drink, or to aid them in resisting cold or heat.

Cantrips from existing sources:

In general I have no problem with people taking their cantrips from existing sources. I still have to approve them first, and if they contradict my errata or the article (in that order) then the errata or the article takes precedence (again, in that order). I have already specifically looked into a few things. . . .

Unearthed Arcana - The cantrips presented in Unearthed Arcana are acceptable uses of the cantrip proficiency. Be advised however that I will enforce the spirit of their limitations. For example, Present requires the wizard to hold forth his hand, in which the item acquired appears. This is a gesture done with flourish, not a secretive opening of the palm behind one's cloak. The cantrip is not Present, as in look at the present I got, but Present as in presenting something to a group.

At this time I am considering amending this sheet to include a look at cantrip parameters, but have nothing final as of yet.

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