I cast Restore Device in the reverse sense

[hcobb]

to disable the trap.

[Shostak]

I'd prefer a Disable Trap spell.

[Terquem]

I could see a "Hold Trap" spell, that would keep a trap from going off for a set amount of time, but I do not see a spell that can disable a trap.

[Skarg]

/s Kind of like I can totally cast Drop Weapon "in the reverse sense" to pick up my weapon? Or Death in the reverse sense to heal my friends. I like it too when I cast Flight in the reverse sense on fliers to make them crash. Or Summon Myrmidon in the reverse sense to banish enemy fighters to whatever plane Myrmidons are summoned from. /s

[Steve Plambeck]

Rather than adding a new spell, how about allowing the use of Freeze on a trap? But to raise the stakes a little, the GM, not the wizard who casts it, secretly rolls the 2d6 to determine how many turns the Freeze lasts.

If no one gets caught when the Freeze wears off, then the trap also does not go off. Meaning if the party has to double back the way they came, the same trap is still waiting for them. Is that evil enough?

[Skarg]

I'm all for creative applications, but they have to match my idea of how a spell works. Freeze seems to me like a nervous system effect, so I think it'd work only on something with a nervous system rather than a mechanical device.

I think Adhesion might mess up a trap, or get it stuck for a while like you suggest, but you'd have to adhere something that has that effect on the trap, which means you need to know not just that there is a trap that you've spotted part of, but have a close enough guess/info about where the trap mechanism parts are and how they work and where there is something that needs adhering to stop the trap from functioning, and only for some sorts of traps would this make sense.

i.e. I think it would be an attempt to disarm the trap, greatly influenced by how the trap works, where you think it is, etc.

[Steve Plambeck]

Originally Posted by Skarg

Freeze seems to me like a nervous system effect, so I think it'd work only on something with a nervous system rather than a mechanical device.

I agree, but was looking for the simplest (shortest) use of existing rules. It really would be more appropriate to come up with a new spell for the job. Perhaps call it Stasis (T). It creates a bubble within which time does not progress, and nothing is either in motion or degrading in any way. Such a spell could then be used both to lock or freeze a trap in an non-tripped state, or preserve a recently killed companion for a resurrection attempt later. Or keep a healthy person in suspended animation for a predetermined or open-ended amount of time, like Sleeping Beauty.

[zot]

Originally Posted by Steve Plambeck

I agree, but was looking for the simplest (shortest) use of existing rules. It really would be more appropriate to come up with a new spell for the job. Perhaps call it Stasis (T). It creates a bubble within which time does not progress, and nothing is either in motion or degrading in any way. Such a spell could then be used both to lock or freeze a trap in an non-tripped state, or preserve a recently killed companion for a resurrection attempt later. Or keep a healthy person in suspended animation for a predetermined or open-ended amount of time, like Sleeping Beauty.

Stasis bubbles are neat but they're also great engineering/sabotage tools like gates are. GMs who don't like wizardly engineers should beware of stasis bubbles. For example, cast one on part of a water wheel to sabotage it. Use them to make indestructable walls. No light would pass through them so they'd be like black stone spheres (but according to Larry Niven, they're silver).

Also they'd be frictionless and massless because force operates over time, so strong force, weak force, and gravity would stop in them. Making them indestructable, frictionless spheres with density zero. Great for making air ships. Or they could be density zero but completely immovable -- inmmovable objects are also great for engineering, you can make castles in the air with them, like in Minecraft... :D.

[Axly Suregrip]

I like the Drop Weapon spell for this. Someone mentioned it earlier. As well as Break Weapon spell. That is, if the trap has a weapon in it, it may be dislodged (Drop) or broken. Say a spear or arrow launching trap. Of course, if the trap launches 5 spears, you still will be facing 4 spears.

And I doubt you can case a spell on the outside of an object holding the weapon unseen.

So, never mind. Just hire a thief.

[Shostak]

There is a danger to letting spells function too broadly. With Drop Weapon used as a way to disable locks, a martial wizard can infringe on the spotlight time of the party's sneak or engineer. If you require a new spell for this, at least the character has to invest in the ability.