Snarecrafter Tools

Snarecrafter Tools - v.1

You have been trained in setting up deadly traps and quick snares that disable your foes. These traps allow you to control the battlefield, setting them up in the perfect spot to cripple your enemies' plans. Often these traps can be constructed of simple materials, allowing you to construct these in out of the way places with little trouble.

Snarecrafter Tools

Snarecrafter tools include a knife, glue, a saw, a shovel, nails, and miscellaneous pieces of material.

Your tools weigh 4 lbs and costs 2 gp.

Snaring

The art of creating a snare is how you can seemingly create something deadly out of mundane materials, and hide it no matter where you are. Anyone might be able to cast an exploding glyph, but few can hide a spring trap in the middle of a stone hallway without anyone noticing it.

Crafting Check

Intelligence is your snarecrafting ability for your snares, since you must design and implement your snares expertly. You use your Intelligence whenever you must craft a snare or are attempting to design new snares. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC and Perception DC for a snare you crafted and when making an attack roll with one.

Snare Save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus +

your Intelligence modifier

Snare Attack / Check = your proficiency bonus +

your Intelligence modifier

Known Snares

Most snarecrafters know three snares that they can craft. A snarecrafter can learn more snares by spending downtime working on new snares and succeeding on a snare check against the Craft DC of a snare. This doesn't create a snare, but rather, if they succeed they can craft these snares in the future as they figure out how to create them without placing themselves in danger.

Crafting a Snare

To craft a snare, you need construction materials, typically stone, wood, rope, and other common items; as well as time. Most snares can be crafted ahead of time, though you still need to spend some time setting up the snare in a spot.

Once a snarecrafter has gathered the required materials and spent the time to create their trap, they must then succeed on a snare check against the Craft DC of the snare they wish to craft. On a success, they are successful and have created a trap.

On a failed check, something goes wrong and they lose half the materials for the snare and must try again after gathering additional supplies. If they fail the check by 5 or more, they lose all of their materials as the trap destroys itself, this could be the rope disintegrating from age or the trap spontaneously combust due to friction between moving parts.

Time to Craft

It takes a certain amount of time to create a snare. This time only involves the creation of the trap and does not include setup time. Large and complicated traps typically take more time to craft while the simplest traps may only take a minute to throw together.

Materials

Every trap or snare requires materials in order to create it. Most of the time, a crafter can purchase these materials from any town or village and then craft what they need, this is shown as the Material Price and Materials of each trap.

If a snarecrafter wants to use the objects around them without spending any gold, they may be able to per the DM's discretion. If the snarecrafter is in place where they can gather the required materials they can do so by spending 5 times as long crafting their snare as normal.

This means that if a trap requires 1 minute to craft, it would take 5 minutes instead. If a trap takes 1 hour to craft, it would take 5 hours. This additional time is the time it takes for them to find the right ingredients, transform it into the right shape, as well as trying to find suitable replacements.

Setting Up

Once a snare or trap has been constructed, you can then carry it with you. Once you are ready to implement the trap, you must spend the time required in the Setup Time. Some traps can be quickly put into place, just dropping it down and then being finished. Other times, you must dig a pit wherever you want the trap, which could take an hour or more.

Retrieval

A snarecrafter can retrieve their own snare, so long as it has not been sprung and it is still operational, no check required. If the snarecrafter finds another trap, they can use their tools to try and disable and retrieve it, adding it to their arsenal, by attempting an Intelligence (Snare Check) against the DC of the snare. On a success, they can break down the trap and keep it for themselves, if applicable, otherwise the trap is disabled. This might happen if the trap is built into a wall. On a failed check, the trap is sprung and the crafter might be the target of the trap, per the DM's discretion.

It takes the same amount of time to setup a trap as it does to retrieve it.

Detecting Snares

The DC to detect a snare is equal to the Snare Save DC contested by a creature's passive perception. A creature only detects a trap when they are within 10 feet of it or can spot a trap if they use their action to make a Perception check and are within 30 feet of it.

If a creature sees the snarecrafter setting up the trap, they have advantage on their Perception check to spot the trap or gain a +5 bonus to their passive perception to notice it.

Triggering a Snare

A snare or trap is triggered when a creature moves into the space it is set up in. Once a trap is sprung, its effect then goes off. Some traps may require a saving throw to avoid its effects, the DC is equal to the Snare Save DC of the crafter.

Example Snares & Traps

Alarm Trap

Craft DC 12
Craft Time 1 minute
Setup Time 1 action per 5 feet
Material Price 2 gp
Materials Thin Rope, Metal or Glass
Weight 6 lbs

You create an alarm that is composed of thin string and bits of metal that clink together when jostled. If a creature walks into the trap, the alarm sounds and all creatures within 50 feet can hear the metal clinking together. The trap can be strung along a path with a maximum length of 50 feet and must be anchored to at least two points on either end of the trap.

Catapulting Caltrops

Craft DC 13
Craft Time 10 minutes
Setup Time 1 action
Material Price 5 gp
Materials Caltrops, Rope, Wood
Weight 5 lbs

This canister occupies a 5-foot square with a small trip wire tied to it. If a creature walks into the trap, the trip wire rips the cannister open and the caltrops explode out, covering the area. The triggering creature must immediately make a Dexterity saving throw at disadvantage or stop moving this turn and take 1 piercing damage. Taking this damage reduces a creature's walking speed by 10 feet until the creature regains at least 1 hit point.

If any other creature moves through this area after the trap has been sprung, they must attempt the same saving throw or move at half speed to automatically succeed on the save.

It takes 1 minute to retrieve all the spilled caltrops and place them back in the trap.

Hunter's Hanging Snare

Craft DC 14
Craft Time 1 minute
Setup Time 10 minutes
Material Price 2 gp
Materials Rope, Metal
Weight 10 lbs + counterweight (not included in costs)

You create a series of knots and simple pulleys that can quickly grab a creature who steps into the trap. If a creature walks into the trap, which occupies a 5-foot square, the rope loop at the bottom suddenly attempts to grapple them by the foot as a trip wire springs the counterweight. The creature must make a Dexterity saving throw or become grappled and flipped upside down as the snare pulls them upside down and hoists them 5 feet above the ground by their foot.

The trap requires to be set up under a tree branch, a building's rafters, or similar place where there is something for the rope to be looped over and must then be hidden along a tree trunk, the wall, or some other structure. You must have a counterweight that weighs as much as the creature you are attempting to snare or more, and a trip wire releases the counterweight. The target can attempt to cut the rope with a slashing weapon (AC 5, 5 hit points) or use an action to escape the grapple with the DC equal to your Snare Save DC.

Launcher Trap

Craft DC 15
Craft Time 1 hour
Setup Time 1 action
Material Price 30 gp
Materials Metal, Wood
Weight 20 lbs

You create a false floor trap that utilizes a heavy spring, that when sprung, launches a creature backwards. If a medium sized creature walks into the trap, the springboard suddenly launches and the creature must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be thrown back 1d6 x 5 feet, taking damage as if they feel backwards for every 10 feet they are flung backwards. They then land prone. The trap must be placed on the ground and then covered with loose debris and fills up a 5-foot square.

A small or smaller creature that activates this trap has disadvantage on the Strength saving throw.

Needle Trap

Craft DC 15
Craft Time 1 hour
Setup Time 10 minutes
Material Price 10 gp
Materials Metal
Weight 1 lb

You disassemble the locking mechanism of a door, chest, or similar object and then reassemble it with your trap carefully placed within it. The trap is trigged when the lock is opened without the proper key, like using thieves' tools, and causes a sharp needle to spring out. You must make a Snare Attack roll against the target's AC, dealing 1d4 piercing damage to them on a success. The needle can be poisoned, delivering a contact poison when the trap is sprung and you successfully hit the creature. The trap can later be reset, no check required, by spending an action to reload a new needle.

Portal Trap

Craft DC 15
Craft Time 1 hour
Setup Time 10 minutes
Material Price 20 gp
Materials Metal, Wood
Weight 20 lbs

This trap is installed on one side of a doorway and, when the door is opened, springs out with several large stakes protruding from it. If a creature opens the door, and is within 5 feet of the door, they must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw and step 5 feet back or take 2d10 piercing damage as the portal trap springs open and covers the doorway with a large plank of wood covered in spikes.

To reactivate the trap after it has been sprung requires an action. When the trab has been sprung, it blocks the doorway and creatures on either side of it have three quarters cover from each other. A creature can push the trap aside by using an action to push it open, it then immediately closes after them. A creature can smash the trap using a bludgeoning weapon and making an attack against it (AC 5, 20 hit points).

Spike Pit Trap

Craft DC 12
Craft Time 10 minutes
Setup Time 1 hour per 10 feet deep x 5 feet wide
Material Price 2 gp per 5 feet of the trap's ground
Materials Cloth, Wood
Weight 10 lbs per 5 feet of the trap's ground

You dig a pit and place sharpened stakes at the bottom of the trap. You then cover the hole with a large cloth anchored at the pit's edge and then camouflaged with debris. Anyone who steps on the cloth must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or fall, along with the cloth, to the bottom of the trap where they take 2d6 piercing damage plus taking damage based on the pit's depth, typically 1d6 x 10 feet fallen. Retrieving the spikes from the bottom only requires 10 minutes of time unless you are also wanting to fill in the pit.

Stake Spitter

Craft DC 15
Craft Time 1 hour
Setup Time 1 action
Material Price 10 gp
Materials Metal, Wood
Weight 10 lbs

You construct a thin wooden box that is 5 feet wide and 10 feet long with a stake under tension by a spring. When a creature steps on the front of the trap, it launches the stake through a small slit on the back of the trap towards them, and the creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 2d8 piercing damage. The trap can later be reset, no check required, by spending an action to reload a new stake.

Variant Rules

Custom Traps

Custom traps can be constructed based on the GM's discretion. To determine a trap's DC, you can use the following conditions to help determine it.

If a trap is very simple and has no moving parts, like a simple pit, it is DC 10 to craft it. If the trap requires multiple moving parts or requires complex mechanical movements, the DC instead is DC 15. If the trap mimics the effects of a spell, like an alarm spell, the DC to craft is 10 + twice the spell's level.

In addition, it typically takes at least 1 minute to create a very simple trap, while a more complicated trap takes 10 minutes. Some very complex traps take 1 hour or several days to build depending on the size and scale of the trap. Cost and weight is based on the amount of materials required. Most simple pieces of wood are about 5 sp per 6-inch by 1-foot section, while metal of a similar size are 2 gp.

Scaling Damage

Instead of having a flat amount of damage a trap can deal based on the examples provided here and in the Dungeon Master's Guide, you can instead have it track based on the crafter's proficiency bonus and the Craft DC of the trap using the chart below. A crafter's trap would deal damage equal to the Craft DC's damage times their proficiency bonus plus any additional damage like from falling or if the trap is poisoned.

The price and time to construct a trap can also be determined by the Craft DC, though the DM may decide to adjust any of these factors based on the trap being built.

Scaling Damage

Craft DC	Damage	Craft Time	Cost
10-11	d4	1 minute	1-5 gp
12-13	d6	10 minutes	5-10 gp
14-16	d8	10 minutes - 1 hour	10-20 gp
17-19	d10	1 hour	20-50 gp
20+	d12	1 hour+	50+ gp

The DM could decide that a character can improve a current trap by rebuilding part of it by attempting a Craft DC at a higher DC. This could improve the damage of the trap, per the chart above, or have another effect per the DM's discretion.