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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 7798369" data-attributes="member: 20323">Several monsters in the MM have the False Appearance trait – animated objects, blights, cloakers, darkmantles, some fungi, galeb duhr, gargoyles, some mephits, some oozes, piercers, ropers, scarecrows, treants, and of course mimics. In VOLOS this includes the slithering tracker and trapper. In MToF this includes the oaken defender, the alkilith demon, the eidolon's sacred statue, and the stone cursed. This trait reads as some variation of:The intention seems to be that – as long as the remaining motionless condition is met – that there is no ability check which will discover the presence of the monster. The only ways to detect such monsters seems to be magics like detect thoughts / locate creature or clever strategies (e.g. luring the monster to reveal itself). Otherwise, their disguise/camouflage is flawless. It doesn't matter how high a PC's Insight, Investigation, or Perception check is. They're very much designed as "gotcha" monsters with a perfect way to gain surprise. In other words, they're a lot like a trap (or at least how traps have frequently been presented).Is this accurate to how you run False Appearance monsters?Now, I'm wondering why, say, a gargoyle or eidolon's sacred state can flawlessly appear to be a normal statue, but a trapped statue cannot flawlessly appear to be a normal statue. Clearly, the DM needs to provide the players with actionable information and foreshadowing of a trap, whether that's through ability checks or whatever – That's just "best practice" for DMing. But the game seems to draw a stark distinction between a gargoyle and a trapped statue or a mimic and a trapped chest. The False Appearance monster cannot be detected with an ability check, whereas traps are presented as being directly detectable with an ability check. For instance, XGtE has this to say about a Pit Trap:What makes the monster different, and should it be any different?I've been thinking on this for a bit, and while I clearly lean toward the "there should not be a difference" perspective, I do see how opposing views make sense. I'm actively trying to find the right balance with my group as they will be entering a trap-filled dungeon soon. Thank you for sharing your perspective. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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