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alright, was involved in a thread a while ago in which people seemed to think that traps do not catch you flat-footed when you dont know about them. I present this ability from the new Aspis Agent PrC.
Ambush Trap (Ex): At 3rd level, an Aspis agent can specially
rig a mechanical trap she has either crafted or bypassed by
exceeding its Disable Device DC by 10. A trap so made can be
triggered by the Aspis agent as a move action as long as she
is adjacent to the trap. She adds her trap sense bonus to the
trap’s Perception DC and on the trap’s attack rolls, and adds
her sneak attack damage to the trap’s damage if the target
is f lat-footed or otherwise denied its Dexterity bonus to AC.
How do you use this if traps dont catch you flat footed? My thoughts were a trap catches you flat-footed if you are not aware of it. if you're walking down a hallway, and a spear trap comes out and smacks you upside the face, you are flat-footed (barbs and rogues have uncanny dodge, so they're okay). but if you find the trap, and set it off say, via failing your disable device check by five or more, then you're not. What do you guys think?
If you're not aware of a trap, then you'll be flat-footed when it's sprung (apart from uncanny dodge and similar abilities). If you perceived it before it triggered, then you wouldn't be flat-footed.
I'm not sure how it could be argued otherwise.
There is an interesting thread on the topic here.
I agree with Are. If the target is not aware of the trap then they are flat-footed against the trap. If they are aware, then they use their normal AC. I find this quicker and easier then trying to apply "combat" rules to the trap and having to roll initiative, giving the trap a surprise round, etc... as suggested by others.