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Snare spell: when do creatures get an Intelligence Check to spot it?

Role-playing Games Asked by Guillaume F. on November 16, 2021

The description of the snare spell says the trap it creates is near invisible, but can be discerned:

This trap is nearly invisible, requiring a successful Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC to be discerned.

I’m not sure under which conditions the check can be attempted. Does anyone passing near the trap gets an automatic investigation check to spot it? Or maybe it requires spending an action explicitly looking for traps?

One Answer

There are two ways to do the check, depending on what the creature is doing.

1. A creature actively searches for traps.

If a creature is actively searching the room or whatever location you have hidden the snare spell, the DC for the check to find the snare trap is the spell save DC of the caster, and they make an active Investigation check (roll the d20).

Note, in combat, searching for traps requires taking the search action:

When you take the Search action, you devote your attention to finding something. Depending on the nature of your search, the DM might have you make a Wisdom (Perception) check or an Intelligence (Investigation) check.

2. All other situations

In all other situations, where no creature is actively searching for traps, you consult the creature's passive investigation score. Passive checks are described in the PHB:

A passive check is a special kind of ability check that doesn't involve any die rolls. Such a check can represent the average result for a task done repeatedly, such as searching for secret doors over and over again, or can be used when the DM wants to secretly determine whether the characters succeed at something without rolling dice, such as noticing a hidden monster.

A creature's passive score for a particular check is determined as:

10 + all modifiers that normally apply to the check

So if any of the creature's have a passive investigation greater than the spell save DC of the snare's caster, they succeed in noticing the snare.

Answered by Thomas Markov on November 16, 2021

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