Buy me a coffeeSpiralWorlds Magic · Sixth-Level Astral Abjuration
Snare Astral Traveler
A specialised planar ward that finds the nearest projected traveller, tears the astral form from its chosen course and holds it motionless before the caster.
- Astral interception
- Forced relocation
- Temporary captivity
- Nearest traveller first
The Silver Hook
An ambush prepared for travellers without bodies
Snare Astral Traveler is a narrow but formidable counter to projected travel. It does not attack every creature on the Astral Plane. It searches specifically for a creature acting through an astral form, beginning with the nearest eligible traveller.
The spell continues through the eligible travellers in order of distance until one fails its saving throw. That creature is pulled into the caster’s presence, made visible and held in place for the spell’s duration.
The nearest eligible form is tested first
The caster cannot ignore a nearer projected creature in order to seize a more distant one. Only creatures at equal distance allow the caster to choose their order.
A successful save passes the spell onwards
When the nearest creature resists, the next nearest eligible traveller must save. The casting ends when one traveller fails or every eligible traveller succeeds.
The capture is temporary
The spell creates an opportunity for questioning, dispelling, negotiation or a second restraint. It does not itself create a permanent prison.
The projection remains the traveller
The captured form is not a disposable duplicate. Imprisoning or harming it is an attack upon the person whose consciousness is travelling through that form.
Primary interaction: The spell is most commonly used against a form created by Astral Projection. Caster and projected traveller must nevertheless be on the same plane when Snare Astral Traveler is cast.
At the Table
Quick Rules Reference
Identify every eligible projected traveller within range, order them by distance and stop as soon as one traveller fails.
- Spell level
- Sixth level in all supported systems.
- School
- Abjuration.
- Eligible target
- A creature currently acting through an astral form.
- Target order
- Nearest eligible traveller first.
- Core effect
- Pulls one failed target before the caster and holds it.
- Saving throw
- Wisdom in D&D 5.5e; Will in PF1e and D&D 3.5e.
- Cross-planar reach
- None. Caster and traveller must share a plane.
- Main counters
- Saving throw, Spell Resistance, dispelling or broken Concentration.
The sleeping body is not the target. A caster standing beside the traveller’s abandoned physical body cannot use this spell to reach a projection currently travelling on another plane.
Compatible Rules
Mechanics by Edition
D&D 5.5e appears first. Pathfinder First Edition and D&D 3.5e remain separate so that their terminology, Spell Resistance and captivity procedures are not blended.
Snare Astral Traveler — D&D 5.5e / 2024
Sixth-level abjuration
- Casting Time
- 1 Action
- Range
- 120 feet
- Components
- V, S
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 1 minute
- Saving Throw
- Wisdom
- Classes
- Cleric, Sorcerer, Wizard
Effect
The spell searches for creatures within range that are currently acting through astral forms created by Astral Projection or comparable magic. A creature physically present on the Astral Plane is not eligible merely because it is there.
You do not need to see an eligible traveller, but the spell cannot affect a creature behind Total Cover. You and every creature tested by the spell must be on the same plane.
Nearest-Traveller Sequence
Determine the nearest eligible creature. When two or more eligible creatures are equally near, you choose which of those tied creatures is tested first.
The first creature makes a Wisdom saving throw. On a successful save, test the next nearest eligible creature. Continue in order of distance until one creature fails or every eligible creature has succeeded.
A creature that succeeds against this casting is not tested again by the same casting.
Failed Save
The creature is magically transported to an unoccupied space you can see within 5 feet of you. When no such space can contain it, the creature appears in the nearest unoccupied space that can contain it.
For the duration, the creature has the Incapacitated and Restrained conditions. It is visible, its Speed is 0, and it cannot teleport, begin planar travel or complete planar travel.
At the end of each of its turns, the creature repeats the Wisdom saving throw, ending the spell on itself on a success.
The spell also ends for that creature if the astral form ends. Ending the snare does not itself end the effect that created the astral form.
Silver Cord
Snare Astral Traveler does not cut, damage or expose the traveller’s silver cord. Do not assign the cord ordinary object statistics unless another effect explicitly provides rules for attacking it.
Compatibility status: This is an independently written D&D 5.5e-compatible conversion. It is not presented as an official 2024 spell.
Snare Astral Traveler — Pathfinder First Edition
Abjuration
- Level
- Cleric 6, Sorcerer/Wizard 6
- Components
- V, S
- Casting Time
- 1 standard action
- Range
- Medium: 100 ft. + 10 ft./level
- Target
- One eligible astral creature, determined by proximity
- Duration
- 1 round/level (D)
- Saving Throw
- Will negates
- Spell Resistance
- Yes
Effect
The spell detects creatures within range that currently exist as astral bodies or equivalent projected forms. A creature physically visiting the Astral Plane does not qualify merely because of its location.
The spell does not require line of sight, but it does require line of effect. Caster and eligible traveller must be on the same plane.
Resolving Proximity, Spell Resistance and the Save
Begin with the nearest eligible creature. If two or more creatures are equally near, the caster chooses their order.
Test the nearest creature’s Spell Resistance, then allow its Will save if the spell overcomes that resistance. If Spell Resistance prevents the effect or the creature succeeds on its save, continue to the next nearest eligible creature.
Continue until one creature fails or every eligible creature has resisted or saved. Each creature tests Spell Resistance only once against this casting.
Failed Save
The creature is brought immediately to an open space adjacent to the caster. If no adjacent space can contain it, the creature appears in the nearest suitable open space.
The creature becomes astrally snared for the remaining duration. It is visible, cannot leave its space, cannot take a 5-foot step and cannot use teleportation or planar travel.
An astrally snared creature cannot make physical attacks or take an action requiring bodily movement, somatic components, material components, a held object or magic-item activation. It can speak, perceive its surroundings and take purely mental actions that require none of those things.
Astrally snared is a SpiralWorlds rules clarification rather than the helpless or paralyzed condition. The creature retains its Dexterity bonus to Armour Class and is not automatically subject to coup de grace.
The initial Will save is the creature’s only saving throw against this casting. The effect ends when dismissed, successfully dispelled, its duration expires or the astral form ends.
Silver Cord
The spell does not sever or damage the silver cord. If the astral form ends, resolve the traveller’s return and any trauma through the Pathfinder rules for Astral Projection.
Pathfinder conversion: The spell remains on its original cleric and sorcerer/wizard lists. Additional occult or hybrid class lists have not been added without a separate campaign decision.
Snare Astral Traveler — D&D 3.5e Compatibility
Abjuration
- Level
- Cleric 6, Sorcerer/Wizard 6
- Components
- V, S
- Casting Time
- 1 standard action
- Range
- Medium: 100 ft. + 10 ft./level
- Target
- One eligible astral creature, determined by proximity
- Duration
- 1 round/level (D)
- Saving Throw
- Will negates
- Spell Resistance
- Yes
Effect
The spell detects creatures within range that currently exist as astral bodies or comparable projected forms. A creature bodily present on the Astral Plane is not automatically an eligible target.
The spell does not require line of sight, but it requires line of effect and cannot reach a creature on another plane.
Order of Resolution
The nearest eligible creature tests Spell Resistance and then attempts its Will save. On successful resistance or a successful saving throw, proceed to the next nearest eligible creature.
Continue in order of distance until one creature fails or every eligible creature has resisted the casting. The caster chooses the order among creatures at equal distance.
Failed Save
The creature is brought immediately to an open space adjacent to the caster, or to the nearest suitable space when every adjacent space is occupied.
The creature becomes astrally snared for the remaining duration. It is visible, cannot leave its space, cannot take a 5-foot step and cannot use teleportation or planar travel.
It cannot make physical attacks or take an action requiring bodily movement, somatic components, material components, a held object or magic-item activation. It can speak, perceive its surroundings and take purely mental actions that require none of those things.
Astrally snared is a SpiralWorlds adjudication of the source phrase “held motionless.” The target is not helpless or paralyzed, retains its Dexterity bonus to Armour Class and is not automatically vulnerable to coup de grace.
The creature receives no additional saving throw after the first failure. The spell ends when dismissed, dispelled, its duration expires or the astral form ends.
Original-Edition Note
The original spell appears in the Book of Vile Darkness, published for Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition before the 3.5 revision. This panel provides a 3.5e-compatible adjudication rather than describing the original publication as a 3.5e source.
Silver Cord
The spell leaves the silver cord intact. If the astral form ends, resolve the traveller’s return through the D&D 3.5e rules for Astral Projection.
| Rule | D&D 5.5e | Pathfinder 1e | D&D 3.5e |
|---|---|---|---|
| Range | 120 feet | Medium | Medium |
| Saving throw | Wisdom | Will | Will |
| Spell Resistance | No separate mechanic | Yes | Yes |
| Duration | Concentration, up to 1 minute | 1 round/level, dismissible | 1 round/level, dismissible |
| Repeat save | End of each captive turn | None | None |
| Captive state | Incapacitated and Restrained | Astrally snared | Astrally snared |
| Cross-planar reach | None | None | None |
| Source status | Original compatibility conversion | Original compatibility conversion | Compatibility treatment of a Third Edition spell |
Game Master Adjudication
Rules Clarifications and Edge Cases
What counts as an astral traveller?
A creature currently acting through an astral body, projected self or equivalent detached form qualifies. A creature in its ordinary body does not qualify merely because it is standing on the Astral Plane.
Does the caster choose the target?
Distance normally chooses the target. The caster decides only the order among eligible creatures that are exactly the same distance away.
Can an ally be caught first?
Yes. A friendly projected traveller nearer than the intended enemy is tested first. The spell does not distinguish between allies and enemies.
Does invisibility prevent the spell?
No. The spell can test an unseen eligible traveller, provided range and line-of-effect requirements are met. A failed target becomes visible.
Does the spell sever a silver cord?
No. The spell relocates and restrains the projected form. It does not damage the cord or turn it into an ordinary targetable rope.
Does it reveal the physical body?
No. The spell does not locate, mark or transport the abandoned body. Discovering that body requires separate investigation or magic.
What happens when the projection ends?
The snare ends because the eligible astral form no longer exists. The traveller returns or awakens according to the effect that created the projection.
Can Dispel Magic release the captive?
Yes. A successful Dispel Magic can end Snare Astral Traveler according to the selected edition’s dispelling rules.
Barriers still matter: Sensing an unseen astral form does not allow the spell to pass through a complete barrier that blocks spell targeting or line of effect.
Spell-Only Combinations
Good Combinations
Every follow-up spell retains its own target, range, casting time, components, saving throw and Spell Resistance rules.
Astral Projection
Astral Projection allows a hunting party to enter the Astral Plane and approach the region occupied by a hostile projected traveller. Snare Astral Traveler can then be cast once both sides share the same plane.
Binding
Binding offers several forms of long-term restraint, including chaining, hedged imprisonment and minimus containment.
Its one-minute casting time means the caster must begin immediately and have enough of the snare’s duration remaining to complete it.
Trap the Soul
Trap the Soul can provide a permanent gem prison after the temporary capture. The snare does not remove the second spell’s name requirements, gem cost, saving throw or Spell Resistance.
Dispel Magic
Dispel Magic can remove a separate defence or concealment spell affecting the captured traveller. The caster must identify the intended effect rather than accidentally ending the snare.
Gate
Gate can provide bodily access to an Astral location where projected travellers are expected to pass. It does not locate a particular traveller or alter the nearest-target sequence.
A Prepared Capture Chamber
The safest use combines the snare with guards, sufficient room for the arriving form, prepared components and a second caster ready to begin Binding or Trap the Soul immediately.
Important Limitation
Dimensional wards do not replace the snare
Dimensional Anchor and Dimensional Lock are strongly related to astral containment, but their own rules impose an important limitation.
Dimensional Anchor
Dimensional Anchor blocks many forms of extradimensional movement when it affects an ordinary creature or object.
It does not interfere with a creature already in astral form when the anchor is cast. It therefore cannot replace Snare Astral Traveler against an existing projection.
Dimensional Lock
Dimensional Lock prevents extradimensional travel into or out of its warded area and is useful for protecting a projection chamber or closing an Astral route before travel begins.
It does not interfere with creatures already in astral form when the lock is cast. A projected traveller already present is not automatically captured or immobilised.
Order matters: Establish Dimensional Lock before hostile projection or planar entry begins. Once a creature is already moving in astral form, Snare Astral Traveler remains the specialised spell that can pull and hold it.
World Consequences
Why This Spell Is Dangerous in the World
Astral Projection allows courts, spies, explorers and magicians to travel while leaving their bodies behind. Snare Astral Traveler turns that apparent safety into a vulnerability.
Astral routes become ambush points
A hostile caster can wait beside a known passage wake, portal approach or Quiet Anchor and seize the first projected traveller who comes within range.
Decoys become strategically valuable
Because the spell tests the nearest eligible form, defenders may surround an important traveller with volunteers or coerced projections intended to absorb the spell.
Projection chambers need two defences
The physical body needs guards in the mortal world, while the astral form needs scouts and warders along its intended route. Protecting only one end leaves the traveller exposed.
Diplomatic travel can become hostage-taking
Astral embassies and courts may forbid the spell as a weapon of unlawful detention. A single capture can become an insult to a ruler, temple or planar power.
The spell encourages prepared prisons
The snare lasts only briefly. Serious captors therefore build secure chambers and prepare Binding, Trap the Soul or another long-term restraint before attempting the interception.
Nearest does not mean guilty
An innocent traveller may be seized before a hidden assassin. Use of the spell in crowded Astral regions can cause wrongful detention, retaliation and war.
Campaign Material
Three Adventure Hooks
The Wrong Traveller
A royal ward seizes a frightened apprentice instead of the expected assassin. The apprentice was forced to travel ahead as a living decoy, and the true killer is approaching behind them.
The Empty Projection Chamber
A captured spy agrees to reveal the location of their sleeping body. When the party reaches the chamber, every body has been removed and the guards remember serving a different master.
The Silver-Cord Trial
An Astral court declares that a captured traveller was an accredited envoy. Releasing the prisoner risks invasion, while continuing the detention may trigger a war between planes.
Visible Linked Thumbnails
Related Video Guides
These videos explain Astral Projection, the form of travel most commonly countered by Snare Astral Traveler. The mechanics above remain the rules reference for this spell.
Historical and Occult Development
From ritual attraction to the organised astral world
The roleplaying spell combines distinct ideas: rituals intended to attract or bind a distant subject, theories of a subtle body, and modern occult descriptions of conscious travel beyond the physical body.
Attraction and Binding Magic
The Greek Magical Papyri contain rites intended to attract, constrain or compel another person. They do not describe fantasy astral combat, but they provide an early parallel for magic that draws an unwilling subject towards the practitioner.
British Library — Love Spells in the Greek Magical Papyri ↗The Subtle Body
Philosophical, religious and occult traditions develop different accounts of an intermediate form between immaterial soul and physical flesh. Modern fantasy turns that broad idea into a visible, mobile duplicate governed by precise rules.
Oxford Academic — The Subtle Body: A Genealogy ↗The Modern Astral Plane
Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Theosophical writing helped popularise an English-language astral world containing regions, inhabitants and travelling subtle forms. Fantasy gaming later makes that environment a literal plane.
Project Gutenberg — C. W. Leadbeater, The Astral Plane ↗Historical distinction: These sources illustrate recurring ideas of attraction, binding and non-physical embodiment. They do not establish one continuous historical tradition identical to the roleplaying spell.
Mythological Parallels
Travelling doubles and supernatural beings in captivity
No single myth reproduces Snare Astral Traveler. Myth does repeatedly imagine a mobile aspect of the person, a traveller returning from death and divine beings restrained by force.
The Egyptian Ba
The ba is represented as a mobile aspect of the person, commonly shown as a human-headed bird. Its ability to move beyond the tomb offers a visual parallel to a travelling form that remains connected to personal identity.
Metropolitan Museum of Art — Ba-bird ↗Plato’s Myth of Er
Er appears dead, witnesses the judgement and journey of souls and returns to his body with knowledge of the world beyond ordinary mortal experience.
Internet Classics Archive — Plato, Republic, Book X ↗Ares Imprisoned
Greek tradition describes the Aloadae overpowering Ares and confining him in a bronze vessel. The story provides a strong mythic parallel for temporarily restraining a being normally beyond mortal control.
Theoi Classical Texts — Myths of Ares ↗Worldbuilding use: A campaign can borrow the narrative patterns of the travelling double, magical attraction and divine captivity without declaring historically separate traditions to be one universal system.
Rules, Links and Compatibility
Sources and Internal-Link Audit
Astral Rules
Capture and Countermagic
Dimensional Wards
Internal-Link Audit Result
The entry includes the confirmed Astral Plane, Astral Projection, Spell Resistance, Binding, Trap the Soul, Dispel Magic, Gate, Dimensional Anchor, Dimensional Lock, Magic and Planes destinations.
Binding is included as the strongest long-term restraint. Dimensional Anchor and Dimensional Lock are included where their limitations are directly explained.