|
Hey all,
I'm playing in a STAP game every other week (opposite the AoW one I'm DMing). I'm playing a kobold artificer who wants to build portable or simple traps. So far, I've found the (really broken) Portable Trap from RotD and a spell from same. Is there an issue of Dungeon or Dragon that has a bunch of portable minor booby traps? I think Ecology of the Kobold has a blurb on an acid mine, but that's all I know of. So far, we're only 2/3 of the way to 3rd level, so cheap traps would be great!
Also, which Dragon has the expanded list of firearms in it? Nothing would make me happier than a kobold with a blunderbuss! :)
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
|
Tanglefoot bags would be good for your character.
As would a Net.
Both are cheap and fairly effective.
I might also spend a feat to become proficient with the repeating crossbow. Once you have subdued/caught someone in one of your traps, might be nice to stand back and shoot at them.
Don't have any stats, but it sounds bear traps would work. Also magical or alchemical "land mines" would work as well. Set it and forget it, as Ron Popiel would say.
SOunds like he will be a memorable character.
Sounds like a character concept that would be a shoe-in for the Combat Trapsmith PrC in Complete Scoundrel. For now, though, I'd say alchemical items are your best bet, and if you can afford one or two, Blast Disks or Exploding Spikes (Heroes of Battle, Magic Item Compendium) are fun as well.
|
There is also an acidic caltrop thingy(can't remember the name or where I saw it) that would help give a guideline as to price and power of lower-type stuff.
Also talk to the DM about designing a trapmaker's kit that allows you to create simple traps quickly(either full round actions or a bit longer). Something that contains various length trip wires, an amount of instant glue, tanglefoot bags that are pre-rigged to hook to trip wires, caltrop bags rigged the same, some acid flasks, etc..
I picture you rigging up a door in a couple of rounds with a trip wire that is glued to the door and hooked to a tanglefoot bag (or caltrop bag or flask of acid above the doorway) and then yelling from the hallway in the resident creature's language that you need assistance. The bad guys then open the doorway to a nightmare of a tanglefoot bag(or other wickedness) exploding on the floor that they are stepping on, and getting the readied actions of the whole party slammed on them at the same time. Cool stuff.
I would suggest coming up with 3-8 simple variations of traps and trying to come up with a fair price for a kit that would contain maybe 2-4 applications of each type. Say a kit that contains 10 total pre-worked and ready to assemble traps for something like 1000gp + the individual costs of the alchemical items included (like 10extra gp per flask of acid necessary, or 50 extra gp per tanglefoot bag) and the bag allows you to make a check using your trapmaking skill to attempt to set up the trap. I would set the DC as 30 to set up a trap as a full round action with the DC decreasing by 5 for each additional full-round action. Failure by 5 or more sets it off in your face.
Example: you have a Craft:trapmaking skill of 8. You want set up a trip wire to a thunderstone and connect it to the doorway. You wouldn't want to attempt it as a full-round action(dc30), but if you spent 3 full rounds the dc would lower to 20. Still not a great option so you decide to take an extra full-round(for a total of 4 full-rounds) to lover the DC to 15, now you only need to roll a 7 or above to succeed and only have a critical failure on a 1 or 2. Decent odds.
Now, I don't know if there is already stuff out there in mega-sourcebook land that already covers this stuff but if not, this is what I would try.
Hope its helpful.
FH
|
|
I could craft a wondrous item that can cast Create Trap a few times a day, but that's still a little ways off and the options are pretty slim. Other trap options can be made using craft wondrous item too. I was more interested in low level, mundane traps for now.
The trap rules in DMG just don't work for the cost of nonmagical traps IMO. No way a razorwire across a hallway can cost 400 gp to buy, or 133.3 gp and a month to make, can it? Seems broken to me.
I guess I could try to negotiate with the DM to allow me to create certain "trap kits" that would transfer creation time to mostly outside of adventuring time and into time spent "in the lab", and allow set up in a minute or two. The mechanics and house rules behind that sound pretty daunting though. Are there any articles in Dragon, Dungeon, WotC or D20 licensed publications that could help me save time (and headaches)?
The combat trapsmith PrC is nice and all, but it totally kills the spell and class ability advancement of the artificer. Maybe the DM will let me use the traps though. :)
Hey all,
Also, which Dragon has the expanded list of firearms in it? Nothing would make me happier than a kobold with a blunderbuss! :)
Issue #321.
|
|
I could craft a wondrous item that can cast Create Trap a few times a day, but that's still a little ways off and the options are pretty slim. Other trap options can be made using craft wondrous item too. I was more interested in low level, mundane traps for now.
The trap rules in DMG just don't work for the cost of nonmagical traps IMO. No way a razorwire across a hallway can cost 400 gp to buy, or 133.3 gp and a month to make, can it? Seems broken to me.
I guess I could try to negotiate with the DM to allow me to create certain "trap kits" that would transfer creation time to mostly outside of adventuring time and into time spent "in the lab", and allow set up in a minute or two. The mechanics and house rules behind that sound pretty daunting though. Are there any articles in Dragon, Dungeon, WotC or D20 licensed publications that could help me save time (and headaches)?
The combat trapsmith PrC is nice and all, but it totally kills the spell and class ability advancement of the artificer. Maybe the DM will let me use the traps though. :)
DMG2 has some booby traps in it that look like they work decently and has some interesting create mechanics also.
FH
|
|
That sounds like what I need. I never bothered with buying DMG2 'cuz I never thought there was much of use in it. Just goes to show, eh? My DM for that game does have a copy, so I'll look at it next week. Thanks. Oh, and thanks for the lead on the firearms article too. :)
DMG2 is a wealth of flavorful additions to a game, it is not really a book about new mechanics which is why alot of people discount it.
More fluff, less crunch.I like fluff.
FH