D&D 5E Quicksand spell counters

[fil512]

My 6th level party is going to get hit with a quicksand trap shortly and I want to rule fairly on spell counters. First off, here is how it works: DC 15 athletics escapes. Fail = sink 1’ deeper into the quicksand and next save the DC is one higher. Usual aid, guidance etc rules apply and if another player is beside you they can use their action to try to pull you out at the same DC. Use of rope changes save to acrobatics.

Spell counters:
Levitate, fly: stop sinking, roll with advantage on either athletics or acrobatics.
Teleport: you win!
Feather fall: ???
Jump: ???
Expeditious retreat: ???
Transform into creature with swim speed: ???
Other spells I haven’t thought of: ???

The party doesn’t have levitate or fly or teleport, so they are going to rely on the other spells.

Intuitively, I feel like a snake should be able to easily escape quicksand because sneks can slither over just about anything.

I’m certain they will try feather fall or expeditious retreat I have no idea how to rule that. Also, what other spells haven’t I thought of? Should a dash action work any differently? Help!

 

[iserith]

My general thought with this sort of thing is that if the players are willing to spend a limited resource on it, be generous with whether it works (and consistent with previous rulings). Levitate, teleport, polymorph or wild shape - those all just work in my opinion. Feather fall doesn't make a lot of sense to me, so it would not.

I would design it so that the condition applied by the quicksand is restrained, which means the creature's speed becomes 0, and it can't benefit from any bonuses to speed. Escaping the quicksand would be like breaking a grapple - an action against a set DC. This should help you rule which spells work and which ones don't. Jump and expeditious retreat don't work given these parameters.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

To build on [MENTION=97077]iserith[/MENTION]'s excellent suggestions...

Three of the spellcasters in our group (divination wizard, enchantment wizard, and vengeance paladin) typically bust out misty step to escape grapples. I could see the war domain cleric casting water walk if faced with quicksand, then calmly climbing out of it.

 

[lonelynoose]

Let's not forget about Cantrips. Also, depends if the quicksand is one that is air based or water based. Water-based is the type found in jungles that cause you to sink as you disturb more dirt/sand beneath you, air based is quicksand where you disrupt air pockets causing you to get sucked down when sand fills up the air pockets you disrupt.

Mold earth - If the DM allows sand to be loose dirt, as most dirt contains a little sand, then you can mold earth to create steps out of the sand and then create disks to walk across.

Shape water - For water-based, you can pull some water out and quicklly use the leftover dirt to get out. Or pull water out into the shape of a disk (or donut), and since you can have two effects simultaneously, freeze it and then use it as a floaty.

Thorn Whip - If DM allows, attack a nearby tree and pull yourself 10 ft. Or attack a branch overhead and pull it towards you, grab the branch, then climb out.

Druidcraft - If in a jungle, use Druidcraft to cause nearby plants to grow longer, grab and get out. My DM is generous with druidcraft and prest.

Create bonfire - If in the sand, create bonfire next to you, the sand should turn to glass, grab and get out. Or keep making sand disks to traverse the trap.

I like Cantrips.

 

[jasper]

Um dm. we spend a hour and go around the quicksand. This happen to me when I was dming.