D&D 5e: Five New Spells for Druids and Rangers

I’m working on a new subclass for rangers, focused on snares and cunning use of terrain. Working toward that end, I’ve created five new spells for rangers, and as the druid spell list is largely (though not strictly) a superset of the ranger spell list, I think these spells are appropriate to druids as well. I have a longer post percolating on the basic problems of ranger design, inspired by many conversations with Kainenchen as well as Rob Donoghue’s recent review of the class.

Ardath’s Bolt Trap

3rd-level transmutation
Casting Time: 1 action or 1 minute
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (a light crossbow worth at least 25 gp)
Duration: 1 minute (1 action casting time) or 8 hours (1 minute casting time)
You enchant a crossbow and place it where you wish, either hurling it into the midst of battle or fixing it carefully in place. Choose a 20-foot cube within range. Until the spell ends, the first creature other than you entering or leaving the area is attacked by the crossbow, which fires lightning-empowered bolts. The target must pass a Dexterity saving throw or suffer 4d8 lightning damage (half damage on a successful saving throw).

If you are still within range when the magical trap is triggered, you can cause it to fire again in later rounds as a bonus action; it lasts until the spell expires or you go a round without spending a bonus action to fire. You may pick targets for these bolts other than the creature who triggered the initial bolt, but they must be within the 20-foot cube. Bolts fired as a bonus action deal 1d8 lightning damage on a failed Dexterity saving throw, or half damage on a successful saving throw.
If you are not within range when the magical trap is triggered, it fires one more time on the following round, at the same target if possible and at a new target within the spell’s area if necessary. This shot does 4d8 lightning damage on a failed Dexterity saving throw, or half damage on a successful saving throw.

Those who do not observe the spell being cast must pass an Intelligence (Investigate) or Intelligence (Arcana) check to detect the magical trap, and a Dexterity (thieves’ tools) or Intelligence (Arcana) check to disable it as an action. These ability checks use the spell’s saving throw DC.
At Higher Levels. When you cast the spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the damage of any bolt fired by this spell increases by 1d8 for each slot level above 3rd.

Fungal Snare

4th-level transmutation
Casting Time: 1 action or 1 minute
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (a large toxic mushroom)
Duration: 1 minute (1 action casting time) or 8 hours (1 minute casting time)
You create a magical zone that sprouts soporific mushrooms. Choose a 20-foot-diameter cylinder within range. Until the spell ends, the first creature other than you to enter or leave the zone causes all creatures within the zone, including itself, to roll Wisdom saving throws. On a failed saving throw, the creature suffers 6d6 poison damage and is slowed (speed is halved; -2 penalty to AC and Dexterity saving throws; cannot use reactions; may take only an action or a bonus action on its turn; spells with a casting time of 1 action may be delayed). On a successful saving throw, the creature suffers half damage and is not slowed. A slowed creature makes a new Wisdom saving throw at the end of its turn each round; on a success, the slowing effect ends.
Those who do not observe the spell being cast must pass an Intelligence (Investigate) or Intelligence (Nature) check to detect the magical trap, and a Dexterity (thieves’ tools) or Intelligence (Nature) check to disable it as an action. These ability checks use the spell’s saving throw DC.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, the spell’s poison damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 4th.

Nanzeh’s Spider

2nd-level conjuration
Casting Time: 1 action or 1 minute
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (a mandible from a giant spider)
Duration: 1 minute (1 action casting time) or 8 hours (1 minute casting time)
You create a magical zone, which must be on natural terrain, that summons a fey giant spider to attack the next person to enter or leave the area. You can create the area as a single action (giving the spell a duration of one minute), or with greater care over the course of a minute (giving the spell a duration of 8 hours). Choose a 10-foot square within range. Until the spell ends, the first creature other than you entering or leaving the area causes a fey giant spider to be summoned under your control.

If you are still within range when it is triggered, you can issue verbal commands to it; it lasts until the spell expires, until it falls to 0 hit points, or until 1 minute passes, whichever comes first.
If you are not within range when it is triggered, it makes one Web attack and one Bite attack (as a single action, in the round it is conjured) against whatever triggered its conjuration, and then vanishes.

Those who do not observe the spell being cast must pass an Intelligence (Investigate) or Wisdom (Survival) check to detect the magical trap, and a Dexterity (thieves’ tools) or Intelligence (Nature) check to disable it as an action. These ability checks use the spell’s saving throw DC.
At Higher Levels. When you cast the spell using a spell slot of 3rd level, the fey giant spider gains advantage on all of its attacks.

Orion’s Springe

1st-level transmutation
Casting Time: 1 action or 1 minute
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (a bundle of sticks and twine)
Duration: 1 minute (1 action casting time) or 8 hours (1 minute casting time)
You lay out a bundle of sticks, either hurling them into the midst of a battle or laying them out carefully. Choose a 10-foot cube within range. Until the spell ends, the first creature other than you entering or leaving the area must pass a Dexterity saving throw or take 4d6 piercing damage (a successful save causes half damage). At your option at the time of casting, beasts may take an additional 2d6 damage.
Those who do not observe the spell being cast must pass an Intelligence (Investigate) check to detect that there is magic in the sticks and twine, and a Dexterity (thieves’ tools) or Intelligence (Nature) check to disable the magical trap as an action. These ability checks use the spell’s saving throw DC.
The spell may be cast with a single-action casting time in the midst of combat, or a one-minute casting time out of combat. This only affects the spell’s duration. In both cases the spell ends the first time it deals damage, or when the magical trap is disarmed.
At Higher Levels. When you cast the spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the trap’s damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 1st.

Tiger-Pit

5th-level transmutation
Casting Time: 1 action or 1 minute
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (a hunting trophy)
Duration: 1 minute (1 action casting time) or 8 hours (1 minute casting time)
You create a magical zone that constructs and conceals a pit trap filled with envenomed spikes. You can create the area as a single action (giving the spell a duration of one minute), or with greater care over the course of a minute (giving the spell a duration of 8 hours). Choose a 20-foot square within range. Until the spell ends, the first creature to enter or leave the zone on foot (i.e., flying or jumping characters are exempt) must pass a Dexterity saving throw or fall into the pit trap. Any non-triggering characters already within the zone, including you, must pass a Dexterity saving throw or fall into the pit trap. You and your allies roll this saving throw with advantage.
The pit trap is 30 feet deep, though this space is extra-dimensional. A creature who falls into the trap takes 3d10 falling damage, and must pass a Constitution saving throw or take 3d10 poison damage and suffer the poisoned condition for 1 minute. The creature may make a new Constitution saving throw on its turn each round; if successful, the poisoned condition ends. When the spell ends, any creatures remaining in the pit are expelled safely back to the level of the ground.
Those who do not observe the spell being cast must pass an Intelligence (Investigate) or Wisdom (Survival) check to detect the magical trap, and a Dexterity (thieves’ tools) or Intelligence (Nature) check to disable it as an action. These ability checks use the spell’s saving throw DC. Once the pit trap is triggered, it remains open and obvious to all creatures until the end of the spell’s duration.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 6th level or higher, the pit is 10 feet deeper (increasing falling damage by 1d10) for each slot level above 5th.

Design Commentary

My chief concern with these spells is their complexity – they are certainly more complex to resolve than some portion of the Player’s Handbook spells, particularly relative to their level and their casting time. On the other hand, that’s far from absolute – any spell with Conjure (other than conjure barrage) in the title is fated to have marked complexity in its resolution, et cetera. My hope is that these spells justify their existence by supporting class themes that are otherwise under-represented. I think these spells also support tower-defense encounters – something I haven’t seen done all that much in tabletop, but I think there’s room to explore there. (Let’s not kid around: several of these spells are heavily inspired by the Orcs Must Die games.)

Also, some of the complexity is intrinsic to the “trap” concept – in D&D, that word signifies that it could be disarmed by someone with the appropriate knowledge. I’ve tried to make sure that more than just rogues can get in on this action too, by including a backup skill for detection and disarmament.

I have done something weird with casting time to cover what I see as the diverging applications of trap spells. They have a short casting time for in-combat usage (and a correspondingly short duration), and a longer casting time for out-of-combat usage (for example, if you know someone is pursuing you, or you know that a patrol is going to pass through an area some time in the next several hours). I don’t recall seeing this structure on any existing spells, but I don’t think it’s difficult to resolve in play. I like how 5e’s spells blur lines between “combat” and “utility,” and I hope to do the same with this.

My handle on damage totals at each spell level is still shaky, given some of the area effects and imposed conditions and that these spells present. In most combats, you can expect the one-action casting time to take full effect, because you can more or less force the enemy to come to you (and thus cross the border of the zone and trigger the effect). Some of these are negated by flying opponents or teleporting opponents, while other opponents may have forced-movement abilities that cause your allies to trigger the traps by accident.

Brandes Stoddard

Harbinger of Doom