D&D 5E Mage Hand Legerdemain...

[Jon Dee]

This is Mage Hand Legerdemain, as I understand it:

Mage Hand Legerdemain (Conjuration)
Arcane Trickster Cantrip
Casting time 1 action
Range 30 ft. (Mage Hand disappears if it leaves range)
Components V, S
Duration 1 minute/10 rounds (no concentration required)

Mage Hand is invisible and appears anywhere within range that its caster designates.

Mage Hand can’t attack, activate magic items, or carry or move more than 10 lbs.

Mage Hand can (as either an action or as a bonus action granted by Cunning Action):
Open unlocked doors, windows, containers, etc.
Manipulate or carry one object.
Stow or retrieve an object (including an object worn or carried by another creature).
Pour the contents out of a vial (such as a potion).
Use thieves’ tools to pick locks and disarm traps within range (using its caster’s thieves’ tools and ability check).

Mage Hand's caster can perform any of these tasks without being noticed by a creature or creatures if he or she succeeds on a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check contested by Wisdom (Perception).

So...is all that right? Did I miss anything?
Thanks. =)

 

[Darkstar360]

I don't like the Arcane Trickster because of this very ability. It effectively neutralises any and all traps fitted to locks.

Pit trap opens in front of door: doesn't matter, I opened it from 30' away.
Chest erupts with a gout of flame: doesn't matter, I opened it from 30' away.
Scything blade cuts across the front of the door: doesn't matter, I opened it from 30' away.

You get the idea. We played through a 'deathtrap dungeon' style game where we were supposed to be careful every step of the way. It was an utter cakewalk thanks to the Arcane Trickster in our party. Robbed the adventure of any tension or drama.

 

[Paraxis]

Great for picking pockets in crowded areas too.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I don't like the Arcane Trickster because of this very ability. It effectively neutralises any and all traps fitted to locks.

Pit trap opens in front of door: doesn't matter, I opened it from 30' away.
Chest erupts with a gout of flame: doesn't matter, I opened it from 30' away.
Scything blade cuts across the front of the door: doesn't matter, I opened it from 30' away.

You get the idea. We played through a 'deathtrap dungeon' style game where we were supposed to be careful every step of the way. It was an utter cakewalk thanks to the Arcane Trickster in our party. Robbed the adventure of any tension or drama.

Well, that can all happen without an Arcane Trickster (though a Trickster does make it a little more viable, thanks to being able to pick locks, etc.). That's all mage hand.

Though I might submit that a "deathtrap" that is a 10-ft. pit or a 20-ft. explosion of flame or a 5-ft. scythe is pretty pedestrian (little stopping the party from getting a 10' pole and 50' of rope and, with enough time, stuff like crowbars or even damaging cantrips like acid splash that might destroy the door). Trying to take out the party one intruder at a time isn't going to accomplish muc!

Now, an exploding room...or a puzzle chamber with pillars that bash into the ground....or a room that twists and dumps everyone in it to a pit of acid...just gotta think BIGGER for the traps.

 

[Darkstar360]

Mage Hand lets you open the door from a distance but to pick the lock, normally you have to get up close and personal for that.

The rogue was never in any danger when doing her spotlight roguey stuff, it just felt a bit flat, boring and predictable. She stopped caring as she was never in any real danger and that's the real shame. If a key facet of your characters role becomes so pointless as to become redundant.

 

[Paraxis]

Rethink traps.

Have them be set pieces that are going on during a combat encounter.

Crossbow turrets firing at the party from the ceiling, while undead attack them some kind of magic in the traps has them only target living creatures.

A statue is in each corner of a room and a larger one in the center, all 5 need to be dealt with as the smaller ones shoot out energy bolts and the center one spins around large swords and spews forth gas. The whole party can do something to just trying to destroy the statues, to using magic to shut them down, to thieve's tools tampering with control panel.

Make the ranged legerdemain useful, highlight it, put the things that disarm the traps in smart places where most rogues couldn't deal with it, and make the party and the rogue glad they are an arcane trickster.

A trapped door or chest is only ever exciting a few times, then it gets real old real fast weather you use mage hand or not.

All that being said sometimes the trap on the door triggers something much further down the hall or effects the whole room.

 

[EvanNave55]

I love mage hand Leger domain - and so far we haven't even come across any traps!

We've only had two sessions but so far I've used it to:
Try and steal a party members trinket without him knowing and offer it as a peace offering
to the giant sent by a god to attack us because of said trinket (it's complicated), unfortunately it didn't work but we still survived
Take the spell book of the same party member and from a safe distance (it was hinted there may be magical traps) prove he wasn't who he said he was(lots of secrets in our party, makes for great RP).
Take a couple extra coins laying around the dungeon (only a little, nothing significant ).
Get rid of the severed head one of our party members found and had a strange fascination with (still don't know what that was about).
And do general rogue type things without the party knowing I'm a rogue (false identity because I'm being hunted by people from my back story)

 

[Klaus]

I don't like the Arcane Trickster because of this very ability. It effectively neutralises any and all traps fitted to locks.

Pit trap opens in front of door: doesn't matter, I opened it from 30' away.
Chest erupts with a gout of flame: doesn't matter, I opened it from 30' away.
Scything blade cuts across the front of the door: doesn't matter, I opened it from 30' away.

You get the idea. We played through a 'deathtrap dungeon' style game where we were supposed to be careful every step of the way. It was an utter cakewalk thanks to the Arcane Trickster in our party. Robbed the adventure of any tension or drama.

And now that they have that sense of security, it's time for you to shatter it!

- Trap triggers a rolling boulder that spans the length of the corridor.
- Trap triggers a crossbow fusilade that hits a 40' cone.
- Trap delivers a cloud of poison gas that fills a 60' cube, and then is rendered inert after one minute.
- Trap sounds off an alarm that attracts guardian creatures.
- Trap triggers a sonic attack that renders creatures within 60' deaf (and attracts guardians).
- Trap triggers scything blades that pop out from the mortar lines of the stone floor, running a random pattern in a 90' square.

 

[Shiroiken]

I don't like the Arcane Trickster because of this very ability. It effectively neutralises any and all traps fitted to locks.

Pit trap opens in front of door: doesn't matter, I opened it from 30' away.
Chest erupts with a gout of flame: doesn't matter, I opened it from 30' away.
Scything blade cuts across the front of the door: doesn't matter, I opened it from 30' away.

You get the idea. We played through a 'deathtrap dungeon' style game where we were supposed to be careful every step of the way. It was an utter cakewalk thanks to the Arcane Trickster in our party. Robbed the adventure of any tension or drama.

Basic traps, such as the ones given, are meant to be ignored by the Arcane Trickster. That's their class feature. You need more advanced traps to challenge an Arcane Trickster. For example:

There was a great trap in Temple, Tower, and Tomb (IIRC) from 2E. Basically, if you open the door leaving a chamber (or attempt to disarm said trap), it sets off a series of traps that harms everyone in the chamber EXCEPT the person who triggered it!

The Pit trap could be longer and filled with acid (or other such hazard to prevent walking through), so that reaching door with the trap triggered is difficult.

The Chest Fire Trap ruins all the treasure inside.

The Scything Blade trap could start scythes swinging all throughout the room.

My personal favorite: the Pit trap leads to the actual passage, while the doorway/passageway leads to a continuous series of death traps for nothing.

Using these traps periodically will keep the Arcane Trickster on his toes, but regular use of simple traps will give their class feature value.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I don't like the Arcane Trickster because of this very ability. It effectively neutralises any and all traps fitted to locks.

Pit trap opens in front of door: doesn't matter, I opened it from 30' away.
Chest erupts with a gout of flame: doesn't matter, I opened it from 30' away.
Scything blade cuts across the front of the door: doesn't matter, I opened it from 30' away.

You get the idea. We played through a 'deathtrap dungeon' style game where we were supposed to be careful every step of the way. It was an utter cakewalk thanks to the Arcane Trickster in our party. Robbed the adventure of any tension or drama.

Yeah, I thought I was being slick using mage hand to disarm a trap in HotDQ. Only to find out the trap filled the whole room with poison gas.