Watch out, Bandits, that chest is trapped.


Pathfinder Online

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Goblin Squad Member

So, I want to make traps. I feel the rules in TT are not very well put together, but I see no reason why that should be true in PFO.

So how about it, should we make traps and what would you do with them?

Goblin Squad Member

Use them as false 'trails' to lead thieves into actual traps.

The chest with the simple lock hidden away, or the door with the excellent lock that's right out in the open? Logic says that the expensive stuff will be behind the best defenses.

Walk down the passageway behind the door, disarm the trip wires, get to the final room, unlock the chest ... pressure plate inside that goes off when you lift the bag of yellow-painted rocks from inside, bang, down comes the solid steel door, and slowly the room fills with water.

Failing 'Epic Trolling Rooms' like that, I'd see them being used on 'game trails' as part of Hunting, and as defensive measures around settlements that are not fully protected by a wall just yet.

Say you have a small settlement with wooden walls on the north, west and east sides, but the south side is still open? Litter the expanse with traps except for the main path with bear-traps and put up signs giving reasons why the grass should not be walked up (ankhegs in the region, rabbit warrens making the ground unstable, etc).

If the Bandits/Raiders come in over the fields, they'll fall afoul of the traps and either be pinned in place or slowed down by the bear-traps clamped to their legs, or they'll have to stick to the road, in which case they are nicely clumped together for a fireball, an acid cloud or a volley of crossbow bolts.

Goblin Squad Member

I would like to see spiked pit traps, deadfalls, etc. for wilderness areas. It would make approaching a hideout more difficult when attacking. It would also be very applicable for ambushes.

Goblinworks Executive Founder

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I think that the usefulness of unattended traps is directly related to the cost and difficulty of healing while out and about; if they simply results in a 15 second delay for the cleric to recover a healing ability, they aren't useful.

There's a very fine line between useless and overpowered traps if hit points are cheap.

Goblin Squad Member

Pit traps are inconvenient if you're in a rush, even if they don't do damage. Tripping an alarm on a chest can be more dangerous than an arrow trap. If traps can debuff then they could still be problematic, especially if blindness darkens your screen or deafness lowers your volume.

I love Grimtooth's guides, but I agree, where HP is cheap and death is just time-consuming, most of that stuff is useless. I'd still like to drop PCs down a pit into a mazelike dungeon if they come into my lair, though.

Goblin Squad Member

How about carrying all your merchant-goods in a box able to destroy them if opened incorrectly? It'd be fun to see merchants saying "Ha, bandits! You'll kill me, but my loot's gone!" and then opening their box as they die. :)

Goblin Squad Member

Opening locked boxes in Dragonrealms was always amusing. Some explosive traps would hit everyone in the room giving them lotsa first aid experience...

Goblin Squad Member

Bandits won't get everything anyway, although being able to forcibly remove potential loot is a cool idea. How about doing the same thing with a Settlement's artifact storage? You could keep it from your enemies, maybe.

Goblin Squad Member

DeciusBrutus wrote:

I think that the usefulness of unattended traps is directly related to the cost and difficulty of healing while out and about; if they simply results in a 15 second delay for the cleric to recover a healing ability, they aren't useful.

There's a very fine line between useless and overpowered traps if hit points are cheap.

I was thinking more about ambushes where you are laying in wait for an expected target. Say you convinced a small party you want to ambush to explore for a particular area you have already prepared and have others waiting for them. When they fall into the pit your guys pop out, attack those not in the pit (maybe pushing them into the pit to join their fellows) and shoot arrows at those that are in the pit.


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I really love the idea of trapmaking. Makes me wish we could play the superior trapbuilding race!

Goblin Squad Member

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Exploding wagons. Possibly trapped goods handed over in a SAD?

Also, if I trap a door and it kills someone, I'd like that to count as an assassination.

Goblin Squad Member

cartomancer wrote:

Exploding wagons. Possibly trapped goods handed over in a SAD?

Also, if I trap a door and it kills someone, I'd like that to count as an assassination.

Likely, if there are such things as traps and they can kill or finish the job, there will have to be someone that the system can give credit/debit to. Assassins killing with traps! Yah!!!

Goblinworks Founder

Traps will be particularly useful for merchants and their caravans.

Goblin Squad Member

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I fully expect crafters to be able to make traps (locksmith can make poison locks but not the poison, carpenter can make a trapped chest, rogue can set and disarm traps, rangers can set traps in the wilderness, trappers and/or hunters can set snares and traps for animals). This was mentioned in a different thread about how hard it will be for GW to code in changed to terrain after the world is built. But surface traps are many. There are also many types of magical traps: silence, fireball, poison cloud, magic arrow.

If GW uses their imagination (and reads all these threads) I expect we shall have access to many cool traps. Including traps merchants carry on chests, in the seat of their wagons (in case their whole wagon is stolen), flash powder, dust of disappearance....the possibilities are endless!

Elder Scrolls: Oblivion had some cool traps set in the dungeons, and if you looked for them you can avoid them, and sometimes lure the bad guys into their own traps. Only a few did really significant damage (the rolling log trap was deadly), but there were fun to find and trigger.

Goblin Squad Member

Bringslite wrote:
Likely, if there are such things as traps and they can kill or finish the job, there will have to be someone that the system can give credit/debit to. Assassins killing with traps! Yah!!!

If traps can kill people (one-shot?) by themselves then they will become mandatory pretty quickly, if other multiplayer games are anything to go by. Even if they are completely obvious, having something lay about that can kill someone is a huge tactical advantage.

Goblin Squad Member

Trikk wrote:
Bringslite wrote:
Likely, if there are such things as traps and they can kill or finish the job, there will have to be someone that the system can give credit/debit to. Assassins killing with traps! Yah!!!
If traps can kill people (one-shot?) by themselves then they will become mandatory pretty quickly, if other multiplayer games are anything to go by. Even if they are completely obvious, having something lay about that can kill someone is a huge tactical advantage.

I am not advocating one-shot killing traps, by any means. Just responding to another's post. I would prefer traps that apply debuffs: slowed, temporarily pinned, weakened, etc...

Goblin Squad Member

The question on caravan traps... is what can they do?

First off right off the bat I have to say, trapping what you give for the SAD is a bad idea. Not for the game, but for the merchant. Just as it is a bad idea for a mercenary group to take an offer to betray the group that hired them, just as it is a bad idea for a bandit to attack and kill those who accepted their SAD. Agreeing to X term, and then using it to backstab works well... the first time, afterwords you should expect not to get X term offered again, and can expect things to come back to bite you in dozens of different ways (bandits working alone, will now accept the rep hit to kill you, If bandits are working for a kingdom, your hometown may move up a few notches on their future targets, etc...). Most forms of treachery in these forms... in the real world, kind of rely on the expectation, that the victim will not get a chance to talk and spread the word of what happened, This is obviously much less likely in an MMO, vs real life, or even the table top game.

Now to say settings where no agreement is made... it does make sense for your luggage etc... to be booby trapped to kill the bandits that blindside attacked you and attempted to raid your caravan. But there we run into some key issues... when you are dead... what punishment can hinder the bandits? Instant death... yeah I suppose that can work, put their corpse run and yours side by side, but unless your trap kills their whole group, they still have a pretty strong advantage there. Best idea I can think of, is a mark. Magic can make the equivelant of a dye+tracking device. Letting bounty hunters etc.... have a chance to get a go at the bandits.

As far as traps on the field of battle... I see quite a bit of potential, Damage, debuffs, snares, Harm to wagons+livestock. There is no shortage of potential in those categories.

Goblin Squad Member

@Onishi, regarding trapping luggage/wagons, etc:

How about a trap that destroys most of the contents of the container? That would potentially be a punishment to the bandits to watch half their haul go up in flames.

Goblin Squad Member

Dario wrote:

@Onishi, regarding trapping luggage/wagons, etc:

How about a trap that destroys most of the contents of the container? That would potentially be a punishment to the bandits to watch half their haul go up in flames.

True, I would fully think an idea like that sounds pretty viable, and beneficial to the game as a whole. As well it adds extra incentive for bandits to want to give trustworthy merchants the opportunities for merchants to give them a toll rather than blindside kill and steal.

Goblin Squad Member

Bringslite wrote:
I am not advocating one-shot killing traps, by any means. Just responding to another's post. I would prefer traps that apply debuffs: slowed, temporarily pinned, weakened, etc...

Oh, I dunno... it seems like there might be some RP value in the poison made by a master alchemist and applied by a master villain that very gradually reduces the HP potential toward/to/beyond zero while the victim tries to identify the poison and locate an antidote...

Goblin Squad Member

Being wrote:
Oh, I dunno... it seems like there might be some RP value in the poison made by a master alchemist and applied by a master villain that very gradually reduces the HP potential toward/to/beyond zero while the victim tries to identify the poison and locate an antidote...

This is a video game and not a novel though, so I'd expect people would be getting pretty tired of logging in every day, getting poisoned and then having to spam the chat with "NEED ANTIDOTE #34225 PLZ HALP".

Goblin Squad Member

Being wrote:
Bringslite wrote:
I am not advocating one-shot killing traps, by any means. Just responding to another's post. I would prefer traps that apply debuffs: slowed, temporarily pinned, weakened, etc...
Oh, I dunno... it seems like there might be some RP value in the poison made by a master alchemist and applied by a master villain that very gradually reduces the HP potential toward/to/beyond zero while the victim tries to identify the poison and locate an antidote...

Isn't that really just a type of debuff? Admittedly deadly if ignored but not really a one-shot.

Goblin Squad Member

Onishi actually pinted out some of the pit falls of this proposed tactic, of booby trapping your cargo. I will expand a bit.

First, if we conduct a SAD and it is agreed upon, you have made an agreement. If you violate that agreement by causing harm (ie damage causing booby trap).

My bandits and I will retaliate. Even if the mechanics would mean a double hit to Reputation and massive Chaotic Evil shifts.

If your dishonorable action actually caused the death of one of our own. We would retailiate by assassinating the weakest and most innocent member of your party, and we would place both a Death Curse and a Bounty on you.

In subsequent encounters with you or your settlement's merchants, we would initiate SADs at 90% or more. In the hopes that they are turned down. Killing all and taking what we can with glee.

Finaly , after a long and hard punishment period, we would appraoch your settlement leader or CC leader, and issue our terms to end our revenge.

Lesson to be learned, "Never underestimate the depths that we would go to, to defend our right to your stuff."

Goblin Squad Member

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I was envisioning booby trapping your cargo less as an underhanded way of responding to a SAD (and, in fact, I would agree that giving a booby trap in response to an accepted SAD should open the merchant to reprisal), and more in a scenario wherein either the SAD was declined (or never offered) and the bandits were looting the remains of the group after the fight.

Goblin Squad Member

Well, the thing with traps is that they can be disarmed. A Merchant with a trapped chest might get their own back the first time.

After the bandits have gained a few ranks in lock-picking ... all he's done is waste materials on a trap that will likely be pilfered by the bandits for their own gains, and moved himself a few notches up on their 'gank on sight' list.

Liberty's Edge Goblin Squad Member

Aww, I was going to make a killing casting fire trap for merchants... ;-)

Goblin Squad Member

Being wrote:
Bringslite wrote:
I am not advocating one-shot killing traps, by any means. Just responding to another's post. I would prefer traps that apply debuffs: slowed, temporarily pinned, weakened, etc...
Oh, I dunno... it seems like there might be some RP value in the poison made by a master alchemist and applied by a master villain that very gradually reduces the HP potential toward/to/beyond zero while the victim tries to identify the poison and locate an antidote...

That's a great quest all by itself. It would definitely take that character out of the "game" for a while as he/she sought to remedy the poison. Constant healing, getting heals after yours ran out, gulping potions...."C'mon alchemist! I'm running out of time!"

Goblin Squad Member

Hardin Steele wrote:
Being wrote:
Bringslite wrote:
I am not advocating one-shot killing traps, by any means. Just responding to another's post. I would prefer traps that apply debuffs: slowed, temporarily pinned, weakened, etc...
Oh, I dunno... it seems like there might be some RP value in the poison made by a master alchemist and applied by a master villain that very gradually reduces the HP potential toward/to/beyond zero while the victim tries to identify the poison and locate an antidote...
That's a great quest all by itself. It would definitely take that character out of the "game" for a while as he/she sought to remedy the poison. Constant healing, getting heals after yours ran out, gulping potions...."C'mon alchemist! I'm running out of time!"

LOL. Probably a fate worse than death. I mean just let yourself die. ;)


If the poison was made rare enough, I think it could work. It might also be hazardous to own--bandits and assassins are gonna want it, after all, and Crusaders might decide to make sure you don't get the chance to kill their boss.

Goblin Squad Member

When I think traps I always think magic, sense in my exp they tend to be the most creative. All I can say is all symbol spells are traps, so at least those will be around if the spells make it in. Also I remember the most well used traps were layered. You trip one and the whole place reacts, short story is summoning traps can really make waves. ;)

I apologize for the bad pun.

Seeing as the system is classless, I would want their to be a number of skills related to traps and not just one or two that are catch all's. Magical traps and non magical traps should not be treated the same as they are not for example.

This keeps both the creators and their victims on their toes. Sense with all things that require a skill level, your opponent will have to deal with it. If you spread your time and skill over poisons, traps, magical traps, and locks. Then you have flexibility in your creations but a low level in said skills. While someone who focuses solely on locks for example may only be a one trick pony but his mastery is to the point where it takes someone specialized in lockpicking to have any real chance of getting pass their work.

This would mean that if someone wanted to protect something badly enough they would need to hire someone who specializes in each skill they need to make it truly deadly. Rather then relying on one person they would need multiple people, which keeps things balanced. I think so anyways. x3

Goblin Squad Member

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Traps that destroy the contents of a chest (or even render a wagon unusable) make sense. It increases the potential cost of the bandit to simply take something rather then work out some sort of deal. As with anything, if the merchant worked out a deal and THEN played the bandit false they'd probably open themselves up for special retribution (no one likes "Oathbreakers" of any flavor).

However for the guy going out to just kill and loot a traveling merchant...it increases the risk that they'll lose thier ill-gotten gains. One of course assumes that the bandit can aquire ranks in disarm trap to avoid such a thing...but that is a good thing (tm)....anything that increases the importance of greater diversity in skill and more interesting gameplay options ends up being good for the game (IMO).

Goblin Squad Member

How much work would it be to raise a Bag of Devouring? I want a pet. ;)

Goblin Squad Member

ALOT, I hope. ;)

Goblin Squad Member

TOTALLY worth it. Who needs a raven?

Goblin Squad Member

I look at traps as I look at crossbow bolts and arrows. They are expendable weapons, just in the case of a trap, they take a little while to set up but can really ruin somebody's day?

See a Merchant on a horse coming up, and nobody's got a mount to catch him? Bear-traps on the road will cripple his horse's speed and make it a cinch to catch him.

Bandits keep 'Stand-And-Deliver' threats to you at agonizingly high levels? Fill you chests with projectile traps set to fire upon opening, then trap the chest, and go out to purposefully get caught, with a contract to 'deliver locked chest from A to B'. Claim you have no idea what's inside, you're hurting for money from all their SAD's, and you've taken this 'shady job' just to be able to keep your business afloat.

After three or four incidents of getting nothing traps in their traps and poison darts up their noses, the Bandits will ignore you because it's only going to get the Wardens after their asses and while they're SAD-ing you, Merchants with 'real' loot are getting away.

Subtle or non-lethal Traps might also be an excellent defense mechanism. Breaking into the Settlement's Warehouse ... poof, you're doused in a day-glow bright orange powder that won't wash off ... not hard for the other PCs to see who has sticky fingers.

A 'Mark' spell-trap might also be useful, helps people identify thieves or maybe even career bandits who might be sneaking into town using the 'Disguise' that's been bandied around.

Armies might load up their catapults with caltrops and launch it into the city they are besieging to make it difficult for the defenders to move to the other side of the settlement, where a strike force is blowing up the defensive wall to gain access without having to brave the heavily defended entrance. Alternatively, a Defending force might instead launch barrels of oil into the middle of an Invading force, then follow up with a volley of fire-arrows or fireballs, cutting the army in two with a cheap and instant sea of flames.

Goblin Squad Member

I love catapults and caltrops. But I think the Bandits might take a few minutes to Assassinate you if you blew them up a lot.

Goblin Squad Member

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cartomancer wrote:
I love catapults and caltrops. But I think the Bandits might take a few minutes to Assassinate you if you blew them up a lot.

And if they do?

I say give them what for. You are gonna get robbed maybe killed anyhoo. Get some enjoyment out of it and take some bandidos with you.

Goblin Squad Member

Bringslite wrote:
cartomancer wrote:
I love catapults and caltrops. But I think the Bandits might take a few minutes to Assassinate you if you blew them up a lot.

And if they do?

I say give them what for. You are gonna get robbed maybe killed anyhoo. Get some enjoyment out of it and take some bandidos with you.

Pretty much this. Bandits are potentially hostile Players who are actively damaging your Hex's reputation and 'stealing' resources from you and your friends with their SAD.

However, I do worry that the old 'Trojan Horse' method of having one chest trapped and filed with Alchemist's Fire might become the norm, and Stand and Deliver might get thrown away because the 'Bandits' know full well the first thing they loot from the SAD will be a crate of flaming death.

Goblin Squad Member

HalfOrc with a Hat of Disguise wrote:
Bringslite wrote:
cartomancer wrote:
I love catapults and caltrops. But I think the Bandits might take a few minutes to Assassinate you if you blew them up a lot.

And if they do?

I say give them what for. You are gonna get robbed maybe killed anyhoo. Get some enjoyment out of it and take some bandidos with you.

Pretty much this. Bandits are potentially hostile Players who are actively damaging your Hex's reputation and 'stealing' resources from you and your friends with their SAD.

However, I do worry that the old 'Trojan Horse' method of having one chest trapped and filed with Alchemist's Fire might become the norm, and Stand and Deliver might get thrown away because the 'Bandits' know full well the first thing they loot from the SAD will be a crate of flaming death.

If it turns out that there are such opportunities for traps in-game, then there will also be detect traps and disarm traps in some form. Any bandit company will have these skills if that is the case.

Anytime that you just lay down and cease to resist crime, a baby unicorn dies...

Goblin Squad Member

HalfOrc with a Hat of Disguise wrote:
Bringslite wrote:
cartomancer wrote:
I love catapults and caltrops. But I think the Bandits might take a few minutes to Assassinate you if you blew them up a lot.

And if they do?

I say give them what for. You are gonna get robbed maybe killed anyhoo. Get some enjoyment out of it and take some bandidos with you.

Pretty much this. Bandits are potentially hostile Players who are actively damaging your Hex's reputation and 'stealing' resources from you and your friends with their SAD.

However, I do worry that the old 'Trojan Horse' method of having one chest trapped and filed with Alchemist's Fire might become the norm, and Stand and Deliver might get thrown away because the 'Bandits' know full well the first thing they loot from the SAD will be a crate of flaming death.

They're going to murder you anyway, so the extortion mechanic is pointless already. You either get guards more guards or hope you're lucky; paying extortionists only encourages more extortion, and it's not like the real world where you have actual pain and permanent death to consider.

Goblin Squad Member

Keovar wrote:
HalfOrc with a Hat of Disguise wrote:
Bringslite wrote:
cartomancer wrote:
I love catapults and caltrops. But I think the Bandits might take a few minutes to Assassinate you if you blew them up a lot.

And if they do?

I say give them what for. You are gonna get robbed maybe killed anyhoo. Get some enjoyment out of it and take some bandidos with you.

Pretty much this. Bandits are potentially hostile Players who are actively damaging your Hex's reputation and 'stealing' resources from you and your friends with their SAD.

However, I do worry that the old 'Trojan Horse' method of having one chest trapped and filed with Alchemist's Fire might become the norm, and Stand and Deliver might get thrown away because the 'Bandits' know full well the first thing they loot from the SAD will be a crate of flaming death.

They're going to murder you anyway, so the extortion mechanic is pointless already. You either get guards more guards or hope you're lucky; paying extortionists only encourages more extortion, and it's not like the real world where you have actual pain and permanent death to consider.

I like the measure of your spine, Sir.

Goblin Squad Member

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I disagree. We won't kill you anyway; we want high rep as much as y'all.


DeciusBrutus wrote:

I think that the usefulness of unattended traps is directly related to the cost and difficulty of healing while out and about; if they simply results in a 15 second delay for the cleric to recover a healing ability, they aren't useful.

There's a very fine line between useless and overpowered traps if hit points are cheap.

There's an opportunity cost to that 15 second cooldown. using your cooldown on one trap means you can't use it ten seconds later after the monsters beat the crap out of everyone because the trap was just a fall into a room filled with nasties...

I personally favor extremely deadly traps. Especially in an MMO where your character's death is guaranteed to not be permanent, only annoying to various degrees. Deadly traps gives players a reason to worry about them, and it also rewards the sneakthieves among us. Whether you're a Rogue with good de-trapping skills or a high-utility Wizard, players should feel rewarded for planning ahead and being clever. One of the ways of being "clever" is designing the traps, too, let's not forget.

Security is absolutely one of those areas of a sandbox PvP game that should be elaborate. Just as in EVE, we're lead to believe that extraordinary tales of embezzlement, burglary and theft are being designed into the game as possibilities -- nay, Expected! Player behavior.

Nothing is guaranteed to make me chuckle in an RPG quite like a "trap" that deals a pitiful amount of damage. I still remember thinking to myself, while playing NWN2, "What the crap am I hauling Neeshka around for? The worst trap I've found did 20 damage". By contrast, trying to open the wrong door in Baldur's Gate 2 was a great way to find yourself the subject of a Finger Of Death or Disintegrate, or worse, a Wail. That definitely sets the tone of an epic encounter with a lich.

Goblin Squad Member

Oh, trust me, I'm going to take great delight in jacking up every Bandit I can, but at the same point, this is a game, and unbalanced mechanics are only fun for those who are winning.

Depending upon how organised the Chapters/Guild get in the Hexes they control, we may be looking at fast-response teams patrolling the areas near the borders of each Hex, and a 'trap' might be nothing more than fireworks set to launch straight up if the Merchant hits his panic button, giving the 'Guards' a quick and easy way of locating 'Merchant in Distress' locations and giving the Bandits a few choices.

1) Deliver the SAD Anyways and hope the bastard of a Merchant doesn't stall for time.

2) Kill him and take a much reduced profit, destroying resources and putting flags on themselves that will make it much easier for other Players to attack them without penalty.

3) Retreat for the time being and hide out until the Guards move on.


cartomancer wrote:
I disagree. We won't kill you anyway; we want high rep as much as y'all.

I'm not sure I would give much credence to a reputation system that didn't take extortion into account...

What sense would it make that bandits can have a high reputation regardless of what they do with their victims?

HalfOrc with a Hat of Disguise wrote:

Depending upon how organised the Chapters/Guild get in the Hexes they control, we may be looking at fast-response teams patrolling the areas near the borders of each Hex, and a 'trap' might be nothing more than fireworks set to launch straight up if the Merchant hits his panic button, giving the 'Guards' a quick and easy way of locating 'Merchant in Distress' locations and giving the Bandits a few choices.

1) Deliver the SAD Anyways and hope the bastard of a Merchant doesn't stall for time.

2) Kill him and take a much reduced profit, destroying resources and putting flags on themselves that will make it much easier for other Players to attack them without penalty.

3) Retreat for the time being and hide out until the Guards move on.

If I did banditry for a living, I know what I'd do.

But anyway, the potential for having Wizards with Teleport pop in and drop five well-armed men at the scene of a crime does give me a good idea for an adventuring party.

Goblin Squad Member

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There's also the counter to that, with the Bandits having a Wizard who can teleport them as well.

Eventually, people are going to isolate Bandit Hideouts through simple triangulation. Let's say a small forest, known as Briarheart's Lament, is the site of multiple bandit attacks and SAD's.

The ruling Chapter, getting pissed off at this brazen assault on the merchants bringing wealth and goods to their Hexes, tracks down the merchants and gets them to pin-point where they were attacked.

With a few dozen points, the Ruling Chapter can then start to isolate where the Bandits are likely located in the Hex, adding in information like times people are attacks, how many of the Bandits there are and how well they are equipped, and start to offer bounties for the finding of the Bandit hideout.

Now here's where the Bandits are going to rely heavily upon traps. A suitable 'feint' is to lay a bucket-load of painfully obvious, flashy traps outside a large, ominous cave and make the Players hunting them think the Bandits have a 'Hideout' in the cave, when in fact the Hideout itself might be in a much less obvious location, protected with far less obvious traps.

In counter, the Ruling Chapter might line the sides of the roads with spike-filled trenches and clear the trees back 50 feet from the road, to ensure the Bandits lack any hiding places and that they can't easily swarm the merchant convoys from the sides on foot, meaning the bandits will have to waste actions putting down structure to allow them to cross the trenches, or will need high speed, either through Class/Badge abilities or mounts such as Horses to clear the trenches, giving the Guards defending the Merchants time to fire off volleys of arrows/spears/fireballs/rabid dire skunks and really put some pain on the bandits.

Goblin Squad Member

HalfOrc with a Hat of Disguise wrote:

There's also the counter to that, with the Bandits having a Wizard who can teleport them as well.

Eventually, people are going to isolate Bandit Hideouts through simple triangulation. Let's say a small forest, known as Briarheart's Lament, is the site of multiple bandit attacks and SAD's.

The ruling Chapter, getting pissed off at this brazen assault on the merchants bringing wealth and goods to their Hexes, tracks down the merchants and gets them to pin-point where they were attacked.

With a few dozen points, the Ruling Chapter can then start to isolate where the Bandits are likely located in the Hex, adding in information like times people are attacks, how many of the Bandits there are and how well they are equipped, and start to offer bounties for the finding of the Bandit hideout.

Now here's where the Bandits are going to rely heavily upon traps. A suitable 'feint' is to lay a bucket-load of painfully obvious, flashy traps outside a large, ominous cave and make the Players hunting them think the Bandits have a 'Hideout' in the cave, when in fact the Hideout itself might be in a much less obvious location, protected with far less obvious traps.

In counter, the Ruling Chapter might line the sides of the roads with spike-filled trenches and clear the trees back 50 feet from the road, to ensure the Bandits lack any hiding places and that they can't easily swarm the merchant convoys from the sides on foot, meaning the bandits will have to waste actions putting down structure to allow them to cross the trenches, or will need high speed, either through Class/Badge abilities or mounts such as Horses to clear the trenches, giving the Guards defending the Merchants time to fire off volleys of arrows/spears/fireballs/rabid dire skunks and really put some pain on the bandits.

I like your ideas but I seriously doubt that we will see PC terrain manipulation for a long time, if ever. Would be pretty neat though.

Traders, gatherers, etc... with some spunk will use lots of ways to outwit, outfight, or outrun bandits. The bandits will find ways to counter those things. Escalation and conflict are what GW wants. As far as this merchant is concerned, bandits are going to get some of that. ;)

Goblin Squad Member

Here's hoping GW will give us a broad slate of tools to go crazy on merchant-vs-bandit escalation. It'd be fun to see some truly bizarre over-reactions.

Goblin Squad Member

A wagon loaded with giant chests, which are in turn full of angry players looking to take the bandits down.

Bandits demanded a SAD from a Merchant to take items, repeatedly, just to mess with people's heads.

Catapults launching the settlement's best combatants with potions of feather-fall in their hands, ready to drink once they clear enemy lines for a sneak assault to the rear.

A field of bear-traps outside of an outhouse at a lonesome tavern, with the owner inside screaming himself blue while the locals drink his establishment dry.


HalfOrc with a Hat of Disguise wrote:
There's also the counter to that, with the Bandits having a Wizard who can teleport them as well.

Thanks to a little spell called Dimensional Anchor, it's much easier to use Teleport for assaults than it is for escapes.

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