[RPG] Can an unseen servant trigger traps

dnd-5espellstraps

If I tell it to walk ahead of me, stomp on the floor (for pressure plates and covered pits), and swing a stick up and down (for trip wires), does it weigh enough to trigger most traps?

Put another way, what are the limits of the traps it can trigger?

Best Answer

Unseen Servant is shapeless and made of force that can interact with objects:

This spell creates an invisible, mindless, shapeless, Medium force

...

Once on each of your turns as a bonus action, you can mentally command the servant to move up to 15 feet and interact with an object. The servant can perform simple tasks that a human servant could do, such as fetching things, cleaning, mending, folding clothes, lighting fires, serving food, and pouring wine.

  • Can it stomp? It doesn't have legs, so no. But it could repeatedly drop an object or push down on the floor (although be aware 2 str is about the same as a tiny creature like a rat, bird, or spider).
  • Could it swing a stick up and down? Yes, it can manipulate an object in this way.
  • Does it weigh enough to trigger most traps? It doesn't weigh anything.
  • What are the limits of the traps it can trigger? It can trigger anything that you have the foresight to tell it to attempt to trigger.

This would be a slow and noisy process

What are the downsides? The Unseen Servant can interact with 1 object per turn, if you want it to have a stick for tripwires and a rock for pressure plates, then it would have to drop the rock, pick up the stick, sweep, drop the stick, then pick up the rock again. That's a slow process for each 5ft square. Anyone nearby would definitely be aware of the rhythmic tapping and thumping. You could have the servant press down on the floor and sweep the stick carefully to avoid tapping, but even so it's certainly going to make slow progress.

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