D&D 5E The "General Nature" of a Trap

[el-remmen]

So I was reading Find Traps. Both the 2014 and the 2024 version have similar descriptions of what the spell does, but do you find them as vague as I do?

2024: "This spell reveals that a trap is present but not its location. You do learn the general nature of the danger posed by a trap you sense."

2014: "This spell merely reveals that a trap is present. You don't learn the location of each trap, but you do learn the general nature of the danger posed by a trap you sense."

So the spell lets you know a trap is present within 120 feet and in your line of sight, but not exactly where it is, but does tell you its "general nature?"

What does "general nature" mean to you? Do you know if it does damage, type of damage, what sets it off, magical or mechanical, etc?

Let us imagine a tall set of stairs mechanically trapped to collapse into a slide as oil pours from the top and a spiked pit opens at the bottom when the weight of at least 2 medium size creatures get past the 15th step.

What is the "general nature" of that trap?

How would you/do you rule it?

 

[Chaltab]

I can't believe they still haven't made Find Traps actually find traps.

Honestly I'd discourage use of the spell, but I'd rule that you get a mental image of how the trap works and what it does, enough to work backwards and figure out where it is from that information.

 

[Lanefan]

I'd think "general nature" would be poison, collapsing roof or ceiling, fall or pit, magical effect, or something like that. The multi-effect trap on the stairs example in the OP would be "fall plus other effects" and would pull if the 15th stair is within 120 feet of the caster (and in LoS).

That the spell doesn't tell you exactly where the trap is seems odd at first, but on second glance makes sense in that if it told you where the trap is then a) there'd be nothing for the Rogue to do and b) it'd become far easier to avoid said trap in many cases.

(worth noting perhaps is that the version I use does exactly the opposite: it tells you where a trap is but nothing at all about the trap itself, or what it does)

 

[Eyes of Nine]

(worth noting perhaps is that the version I use does exactly the opposite: it tells you where a trap is but nothing at all about the trap itself, or what it does)

This seems like the better approach. It does after all seem strange that FIND Traps doesn't actually find traps

 

[TiQuinn]

So I was reading Find Traps. Both the 2014 and the 2024 version have similar descriptions of what the spell does, but do you find them as vague as I do?

2024: "This spell reveals that a trap is present but not its location. You do learn the general nature of the danger posed by a trap you sense."

2014: "This spell merely reveals that a trap is present. You don't learn the location of each trap, but you do learn the general nature of the danger posed by a trap you sense."

So the spell lets you know a trap is present within 120 feet and in your line of sight, but not exactly where it is, but does tell you its "general nature?"

What does "general nature" mean to you? Do you know if it does damage, type of damage, what sets it off, magical or mechanical, etc?

Let us imagine a tall set of stairs mechanically trapped to collapse into a slide as oil pours from the top and a spiked pit opens at the bottom when the weight of at least 2 medium size creatures get past the 15th step.

What is the "general nature" of that trap?

How would you/do you rule it?

Hmmm, I’ve never actually seen this spell cast. Like ever.

Reading it now, what I think I’d do is give the caster a premonition of the effects of the trap, i.e. the caster sees themselves and another PC impaled on spikes. They know there's a spike trap and it’s a pit but where they have no clue, and they don’t know part of the danger is actually the stairs turning into a slide.

 

[Shadowdweller00]

I'd give the caster a general description of the effects: "Releases a scything blades", "collapses a ceiling", "expels poison gas". Hopefully including a clue as to what features it is likely attached to, but not spelling it out directly.

 

[Tonguez]

One of the many spells that should be banned, its just a perception check, why make it magic?

Anyway the spell tells the caster if the effect is magical or mundane, roof, pit or in between.

Use Investigate to find more

Hmmm, I’ve never actually seen this spell cast. Like ever.

Reading it now, what I think I’d do is give the caster a premonition of the effects of the trap, i.e. the caster sees themselves and another PC impaled on spikes. They know there's a spike trap and it’s a pit but where they have no clue, and they don’t know part of the danger is actually the stairs turning into a slide.

Thats actually a pretty nice way to handle it

 

[Paul Farquhar]

In Neverwinter Nights casting Find Traps disarmed all traps within a 60 ft. radius.

 

[CreamCloud0]

That the spell doesn't tell you exactly where the trap is seems odd at first, but on second glance makes sense in that if it told you where the trap is then a) there'd be nothing for the Rogue to do

Oh! i didn't realise we'd started caring when magic would make martial classes redundant, how recently did that change happen?

 

[Hriston]

The spell let's you (the Wisdom caster) sense the presence of a trap and learn "the general nature of the danger posed" by it. So I would focus in my description on the danger the trap represents to the PCs, in the case of your example, danger of falling and being impaled.

I also found this passage from the Basic Rules helpful:

​

A trap can be either mechanical or magical in nature. Mechanical traps include pits, arrow traps, falling blocks, water-filled rooms, whirling blades, and anything else that depends on a mechanism to operate. Magic traps are either magical device traps or spell traps. Magical device traps initiate spell effects when activated. Spell traps are spells such as glyph of warding and symbol that function as traps.​

​

So, in that sense, the nature of your example trap is that of a mechanical pit trap.

ETA: As DM, in response to the casting of this spell, I might say something like, "There is a mechanical/non-magical trap present, with a danger of falling into a pit and being impaled."