D&D 5E Survivor Worst Spells: FIND TRAPS IS THE WORST!

[Helldritch]

Strangely I am not blocking anyone that I am aware of. And posts are in sequential numbers. I see post 485 clearly.

Anyways. If the community decide that FT is the worst spell, who am I to judge?

 

[Argyle King]

Alas, the party of adventurers came across the evil mage's library and their wizard, excited about the possibility of adding some new spells to his book, began to flip through the pages of a random tome, only to activate a ward and TPK the party. If only he had learned Find Traps...

Ah, but thankfully a second party was smarter, and they had made a perception/arcana check to recognize there was a trap and then disabled it; saving their second level slot for the battle against the evil mage.

 

[Phazonfish]

Alas, the party of adventurers came across the evil mage's library and their wizard, excited about the possibility of adding some new spells to his book, began to flip through the pages of a random tome, only to activate a ward and TPK the party. If only he had learned Find Traps...

Except Find Traps isn't a wizard spell, so he couldn't possibly have learned it. Also, if he was so excited he didn't check for traps then he would be too excited to cast Find Traps anyway. Thirdly, if a trap insta-TPKing you is a common concern, the problem may be your DM rather than your lack of preparing Find Traps. Find Traps is still better than True Strike by a wide margin though.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Except Find Traps isn't a wizard spell, so he couldn't possibly have learned it. Also, if he was so excited he didn't check for traps then he would be too excited to cast Find Traps anyway. Thirdly, if a trap insta-TPKing you is a common concern, the problem may be your DM rather than your lack of preparing Find Traps. Find Traps is still better than True Strike by a wide margin though.

Badwrongfun, eh?

 

[Iry]

That was, what, five votes in a row?

Honestly, I'm a little surprised True Strike didn't win. But I guess, when you get the numbers down into the single digits, all it takes is one or two posters to suddenly end things.

So it was basically a tie.

 

[Phazonfish]

Badwrongfun, eh?

Care to elaborate? Because I don't think I'm saying what you think I'm saying (probably a result of my poor phrasing).

 

[Greenstone.Walker]

Alas, the party of adventurers came across the evil mage's library and their wizard, excited about the possibility of adding some new spells to his book, began to flip through the pages of a random tome, only to activate a ward and TPK the party. If only he had learned Find Traps...

GM: OK, you cast find traps. The magic tells you there's one or more traps in the library and they involve books and fire.

So, now what?

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

GM: OK, you cast find traps. The magic tells you there's one or more traps in the library and they involve books and fire.

So, now what?

So now, leave the library alone and go look for something that isn't trapped. Or if you're feeling lucky, exit the library and send in a skeleton or zombie or unseen servant to start pulling books off the shelves and piling them outside the library in hopes of breaking any glyphs of warding/Symbols/etc. cast on the books. If it weren't trapped that would be a waste of precious time.

Obviously, if your DM's world never includes genuinely deadly traps, Find Traps is a waste of time--just as Meteor Swarm is overkill in a campaign where the DM never uses hordes. My worlds typically include both the standard "fun" kind of traps (made by trap gremlins), and the genuinely deadly "security" traps (made by intelligent wizards who are trying to protect their stuff and kill those who would take it). If, while in sandbox mode, you decide you're going to sneak into Archer's tower while you hope he's away and steal some medium-value stuff like old magic items, you probably want all the advantages you can get, and that includes Find Traps.

 

[Yunru]

So now, leave the library alone and go look for something that isn't trapped. Or if you're feeling lucky, exit the library and send in a skeleton or zombie or unseen servant to start pulling books off the shelves and piling them outside the library in hopes of breaking any glyphs of warding/Symbols/etc. cast on the books. If it weren't trapped that would be a waste of precious time.

Obviously, if your DM's world never includes genuinely deadly traps, Find Traps is a waste of time--just as Meteor Swarm is overkill in a campaign where the DM never uses hordes. My worlds typically include both the standard "fun" kind of traps (made by trap gremlins), and the genuinely deadly "security" traps (made by intelligent wizards who are trying to protect their stuff and kill those who would take it). If, while in sandbox mode, you decide you're going to sneak into Archer's tower while you hope he's away and steal some medium-value stuff like old magic items, you probably want all the advantages you can get, and that includes Find Traps.

No you won't. Because you'll alreqdy be assuming there are traps their, so Find Traps is useless.

 

[Iry]

If, while in sandbox mode, you decide you're going to sneak into Archer's tower while you hope he's away and steal some medium-value stuff like old magic items, you probably want all the advantages you can get, and that includes Find Traps.

Unless you are right around the Level 3-4 sweet spot, you can probably only spare two or three of your prepared slots for 2nd Level spells. For a cleric, that means Find Traps is competing with great spells like Hold Person, Lesser Restoration, Prayer of Healing, Silence, and Spiritual Weapon (among others). The opportunity cost of choosing Find Traps is much more likely to be a DISadvantage.