Detect Snares & Pits (PHB)

Detect Snares & Pits (Divination)

Sphere: Divination

Range: 0

Duration: 4 rds/level

Area of Effect: 10 x 40 ft.

Components: V, S, M

Casting Time: 4

Saving Throw: None

Upon casting this spell, the caster is able to detect snares, pits, deadfalls, and similar hazards along a path 10 feet wide and 40 feet long. Such hazards include simple pits, deadfalls, snares of wilderness creatures (for example, trapdoor spiders, giant sundews, ant lions, etc.), and primitive traps constructed of natural materials (mantraps, missile trips, hunting snares, etc.). The spell is directional, the caster must face the desired direction to determine if a pit exists or a trap is laid in that direction. The caster experiences a feeling of anger from the direction of a caster detected hazard, which increases as the danger is approached. The caster learns the general nature of the danger (put, snare, or deadfall) but not its exact operation, nor how to disarm it. Close examination, however, enables the caster to sense what intended actions might trigger it. The spell detects certain natural hazards-quicksand (snare), sinkholes(pit), or unsafe walls of natural rock (deadfall). Other hazards, such as a cavern that floods during rain, an unsafe construction, or a naturally poisonous plant, are not revealed. The spell does not detect magical traps (save those that operate by pit, deadfall, or snaring; see the 2nd-level spell trip and the 3rd-level spell snare), nor those that are mechanically complex, nor those that have been rendered safe or inactive.

The caster must have his holy symbol to complete the spell.

Source: Cook, D. (1989). Players Handbook. Cambridge, UK: TSR.