Pass Without Trace: You Won’t Even Know I’m Here
Spell Level: 2
School: Abjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
Components: V, S, M (ashes from a burned leaf of mistletoe and a sprig of spruce)
A veil of shadows and silence radiates from you, masking you and your companions from detection. For the duration, each creature you choose within 30 feet of you (including you) has a +10 bonus to Dexterity (Stealth) checks and can’t be tracked except by magical means. A creature that receives this bonus leaves behind no tracks or other traces of its passage.
Review by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold
Where Invisibility is the must go to 2nd level deception tool for most, druids and rangers get a different option that, while certainly not as powerful, is a great addition for most groups to have, and will make your ranger or druid feel like a major component of stealth: Pass Without Trace.
First, it's important to make a rule clarification: for a creature to benefit from the +10 to their Stealth ability checks, they must be within 30 feet of the caster. They don’t have to be within the area when the spell is cast- the caster can select them in a subsequent round to receive the benefits once they enter the spell’s area.
Basically, if a creature is within 30 feet of the caster while they’re concentrating on it, the caster can grant them the boon. Otherwise, a creature is unaffected. This means stealth missions are at their best with this spell when the party stays grouped up together, and will leave larger parties in narrow areas having to make some concessions as to who gets the bonus and who doesn’t.
A flat +10 modifier does a lot when it comes to hiding. Passive perception rarely reaches past 20 on your average adventure, meaning even the clumsiest paladin with a -1 Dexterity and clad in heavy armor imposing disadvantage on their stealth check has a reasonable chance at staying hidden and moving quietly. Being unable to be tracked is niche, and while it's not contributing to the bulk of the spells power, from time to time you’ll be glad it is explicitly written out here when you’re trying to shake the gnoll hunters tracking you.
If you’re in the market for a team based exploration enhancer to make your infiltration missions and stealth gameplay shine, Pass Without Trace is excellent. It compiles well with other stealth enhancers like Invisibility or the rogue’s cunning action, making it feel like it empowers other characters instead of replacing their niche entirely. If you’re tired of the cleric setting off the alarms and alerting the goblin guards to your presence, Pass Without Trace is a cheap, potent, impactful way to alleviate that problem while opening up new possibilities otherwise left off the table.
Thank you for visiting!
If you’d like to support this ongoing project, you can do so by buying my books, getting some sweet C&C merch, or joining my Patreon.
The text on this page is Open Game Content, and is licensed for public use under the terms of the Open Game License v1.0a.
‘d20 System’ and the ‘d20 System’ logo are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
and are used according to the terms of the d20 System License version 6.0.
A copy of this License can be found at www.wizards.com/d20.
