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

[TiQuinn]

I don't think you can just ignore the title of the spell. A trap is defined in the DMG. It seems clear.

I think the fact that there’s a 9 page thread suggests otherwise.

 

[J.Quondam]

I don't think you can just ignore the title of the spell. A trap is defined in the DMG. It seems clear.

If i understand correctly, el-remmen (OP) is looking at modifying this spell for his houserules, and is looking for suggestions. Adherence to RAW isn't an overarching concern, I don't think.

 

[el-remmen]

If i understand correctly, el-remmen (OP) is looking at modifying this spell for his houserules, and is looking for suggestions. Adherence to RAW isn't an overarching concern, I don't think.

For me the questions for this and several other spells are, how do people rule what I see as vague, is the spell functioning how I think it should, and is it worth revising?

 

[Scott Christian]

If i understand correctly, el-remmen (OP) is looking at modifying this spell for his houserules, and is looking for suggestions. Adherence to RAW isn't an overarching concern, I don't think.

He gives us a situation and then asks:

How would you/do you rule it?

That partly implies RAW.

In the DMG, it literally defines and gives many examples of traps, mechanical, magical, and environmental. Does it have a trigger? Does it have a duration? The answer is, to quote an overly used phrase, "It's a trap."

 

[J.Quondam]

Anyway, since the question is about a trap's general nature, maybe just invent an explicit definition for "general nature". It might encompass things like:

- whether the trap's trigger/s is/are mechanical, magical, or hybrid; and​

- whether the trap is designed to cause damage, and​

--- (maybe) if it causes damage, what is the damage type in vague terms (eg physical, energy, magic); and​

- whether it causes a negative or hindering condition (but probably not specifically what the condition is); and​

- whether it's designed to alert bad guys (to cover alarms); and​

- whether it causes a significant change in position (eg, to cover teleport, slides, long falls, and so forth)​

That gives some clear verbiage that's reasonably well-defined and seems fairly close to the spirit of the spell.

So the trap in the OP might yield info like "has a mechanical trigger, imposes no damage or conditions, but it'll mess with a PC's position"

(Caveat: i don't have a 2024 dmg, so I'm just spitballing here.)