I've not had many opportunities to use traps yest, but I think they can probably be fun/challenging if used right. I've got one that makes me cackle with maniacal glee at the thought, but I suspect it may be pretty close to a TPK if I ever actually use it.
The party walks into a 20ft square room. The floor looks like its made of black marble, the rest of the room is regular stone, likely granite or something. Depending on the scenario you can have it triggered several ways. Perhaps in the center of the room is some sort of bait, in the form of a shiny bauble or mysterious glyphed column or something. Or it could just be an empty room with an alarmspell. If someone moves into the room, and meets the triggering requirements (touches the bait, trips the alarm, whathaveyou, then the horizontal wall of force disappears, dropping the party into the Black Pudding that was serving as the room's floor.
I've not had many opportunities to use traps yest, but I think they can probably be fun/challenging if used right. I've got one that makes me cackle with maniacal glee at the thought, but I suspect it may be pretty close to a TPK if I ever actually use it.
The party walks into a 20ft square room. The floor looks like its made of black marble, the rest of the room is regular stone, likely granite or something. Depending on the scenario you can have it triggered several ways. Perhaps in the center of the room is some sort of bait, in the form of a shiny bauble or mysterious glyphed column or something. Or it could just be an empty room with an alarmspell. If someone moves into the room, and meets the triggering requirements (touches the bait, trips the alarm, whathaveyou, then the horizontal wall of force disappears, dropping the party into the Black Pudding that was serving as the room's floor.
Black puddings are really tough opponents, especially when they have the advantage... I approve of this trap!
I'm not much of a trap DM myself (more of a theatrical, sociopath BBEG kind of guy). One of my players is, however, and when he DMs we never know what to expect. One interesting room was a vault that appeared to be a normal room filled with piles of treasure. In truth, the floor was suspended on a narrow pillar so any shift in the center of gravity would cause the floor to start tilting in that direction, sliding everything towards the huge pit below the room.
Also in that same dungeon was a slide-like passageway that at one point was bisected by a vertical blade. Since the players were sliding down rather quickly, good reflexes (or other means) were required to prevent separation of body parts :)
Do you guys give checks to your players if they do not explicitly mention they are looking for traps?
I read an interesting idea I'm about to try out.. Basically a rogue can enter a trapfinding mode in which he moves at half speed. The DM makes the rolls accordingly but you don't have to declare "I'm looking for traps" all the time.
Also, putting traps only makes sense as long as someone can disarm it! As in a rogue that is interested in that aspect of the class..
Unless the players are warned beforehand that this crypt/dungeon/whatever is possibly containing traps anyway ;)
I like the poison darts traps personally! Save or die traps are no fun in my opinion.
Do you guys give checks to your players if they do not explicitly mention they are looking for traps?
I read an interesting idea I'm about to try out.. Basically a rogue can enter a trapfinding mode in which he moves at half speed. The DM makes the rolls accordingly but you don't have to declare "I'm looking for traps" all the time.
Also, putting traps only makes sense as long as someone can disarm it! As in a rogue that is interested in that aspect of the class..
Unless the players are warned beforehand that this crypt/dungeon/whatever is possibly containing traps anyway ;)
I like the poison darts traps personally! Save or die traps are no fun in my opinion.
Typically when DMing a dungeon with traps, I write down everyone's Perception modifiers beforehand. Then, whenever a dwarf passes by something fishy or the players say "we're searching/examining this room/object thoroughly" I roll the trapfinding check for them (even if there aren't any traps... just to avoid metagame knowledge). Course, if they just say they're checking for traps, I do the same thing.
As for the whole checking hallways for traps, I've made it so anyone can find traps w/ perception, but rogues get an automatic check (like the old elven secret door check).
My DM likes traps as well. He has a modified version of the spiked pit trap. If someone falls in the pit, falling on the spikes would trigger an anti-gravity field and touching the runed ceiling above it turns it off.
I love the joke traps.
Once had a pit trap that dropped the players five feet onto a stone painted mural of a deep, dark pit.
Then, the mural dropped out to reveal the actual spiked pit.
Awesome reactions.
nothing like the old classics. when I played this back in the day we had multiple TPKs. still had a blast, but only recommended for throw away characters!
@Ice Titan - ROFL, I have to use that!
I made a pretty nasty room - you can use this for a room or a corridor and possibly as a final fight type room. The floor is a see through purple. The party can see all the way to to the lava flow/deep ocean/bottomless pit (you get the idea here) below. The rub is that the only thing that floor will support is living flesh. So as the party enters the room they feel it 'tingle on their bare feet'. Let them toss a coin and watch it fall, then attack.
Now, a DM can nasty if he wants. Disarmed PC's will permanently loose weapons. If your party relies on raise dead spells, dead PC's fall never to be recovered. Think of the fun of flesh to stone. Get creative and have fun.
Miles - DM
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Mr. Fishy once placed a pestal in a vault with a bag of gold on top. The "thief" in the group searched that sucker for traps four times because he KNEW that it was trapped. He found nothing he call for a NPC in another room to grab the bag for him. The thief lied that the trap was disarm. The NPC took the loot and walk back out. A very surprised player asked about the trap.
Mr. Fishy smiled and said, "What trap? I said you didn't find any traps not that there was a trap." Mr. Fishy can't type what he was called for that.
Mr. Fishy's favorite traps are the ones the player create for themselves with paranoid delusions...Good times.
I prefer traps that are more than simply obstacles or straight up direct damage. Random DM's example is a good one. Another is from a module I ran once; at the heart of a lich's lair he had a special room set up with a trap that triggered whenever a living creature stepped on the floor and filled the room with a burst of negative energy from the sarcophagus in the middle of the room, then reset in a short period of time (1d4 rounds, I think). The room was his retreat/sanctum; if he lost a combat elsewhere in the lair, he would teleport there and wait for the PCs. Every pulse of the trap would heal him and hurt all the PCs, but the trap was obvious and would give a Rogue something constructive to do in the fight (this was a 3.5 module, so Rogues couldn't sneak attack undead and were basically useless against lichs).
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Mr. Fishy once placed a pestal in a vault with a bag of gold on top. The "thief" in the group searched that sucker for traps four times because he KNEW that it was trapped. He found nothing he call for a NPC in another room to grab the bag for him. The thief lied that the trap was disarm. The NPC took the loot and walk back out. A very surprised player asked about the trap.
Mr. Fishy smiled and said, "What trap? I said you didn't find any traps not that there was a trap." Mr. Fishy can't type what he was called for that.
Mr. Fishy's favorite traps are the ones the player create for themselves with paranoid delusions...Good times.
+1 +1 +1!!!!!
I had something similar in a game, where I had the golden idol/loot in a hollowed out glass column filled with water...just reach in and pluck it out. Mage Hand spell wouldn't work, it was too heavy. Had to reach in and pull it out. They searched for hours, refused to walk up to it, they tried just about EVERYTHING to get to it. Finally, a brawn over brains warrior type walked in, reached down, picked it up. The party was pretty annoyed they had spent the better part of the game session worrying about nothing.
Mr. Fishy once placed a pestal in a vault with a bag of gold on top. The "thief" in the group searched that sucker for traps four times because he KNEW that it was trapped. He found nothing he call for a NPC in another room to grab the bag for him. The thief lied that the trap was disarm. The NPC took the loot and walk back out. A very surprised player asked about the trap.
Mr. Fishy smiled and said, "What trap? I said you didn't find any traps not that there was a trap." Mr. Fishy can't type what he was called for that.
Mr. Fishy's favorite traps are the ones the player create for themselves with paranoid delusions...Good times.
+1 +1 +1!!!!!
I had something similar in a game, where I had the golden idol/loot in a hollowed out glass column filled with water...just reach in and pluck it out. Mage Hand spell wouldn't work, it was too heavy. Had to reach in and pull it out. They searched for hours, refused to walk up to it, they tried just about EVERYTHING to get to it. Finally, a brawn over brains warrior type walked in, reached down, picked it up. The party was pretty annoyed they had spent the better part of the game session worrying about nothing.
+1! I, myself, prefer my homebrew Illusory Pit trap. Every character gets a will save to see through it, but no perception checks and it can't be disarmed. Evil >:)
Fog cloud+ rakes. Hilarious.
Traps? What? To the group: Someone has to be a Dwarf! Glyphs of Warding, that is what I like. I craft my spells and NPC to perform as I envision them, but a simple Dispell Magic (meeting difficulty) does always work. As a counter-trap I have seen items with Detect Magic come to great use. Ussualy it is the item which glows and not the nearby magic. I once stalled the players for quite sometime with Bigby's Hand insisting that they go the wrong way. It was my Bigby, not theirs after all. I must also suggest trying out a nasty ice storm or mud slick as part of your next adventure. Cheers!
Well, traps can be fun at lower levels, but at the higher ones they seem pretty pointless. Magical traps extend to DC 34, mechanical traps nominally can go higher, but which ones do?
A rogue with the Skill Mastery and Trap Spotter rogue talents gets an automatic check at 10 feet distance, with an average modifier of +18 ( without any optimizations like Skill Focus: Perception or the like ), so he will spot most traps automatically.
Even when he isn't spotting them automatically ( due to their trigger being at a larger distance ), he will be able to handle them almost ever without a big problem due to Skill Mastery.
Trap 1: An ornate "tarnished" silver doorknob (the "tarnish" is actually contact poison) with a lock/keyhole in it. Inserting a key, lock pick, etc. causes a jolt of electricity (shocking grasp, automatic reset). Successfully picking the lock causes the doorknob to detach from the door... and explode a second or two later like a fragmentation grenade (with poisoned shrapnel, if the contact poison wasn't removed). This reveals the real lock/keyhole for the door where the false doorknob was.
Trap 2: An "iron bound, wooden door" that is really a thin veneer of wood over an air-tight recess (sealed with wax, for example) in a metal door. Any violent action (attempting to force the door, chop though the door, a nearby explosion, etc) will breach the air-tight recess. The recess is filled with alchemist's fire.
Corridor with what looks like a copper dome, quite a bit higher than broad pierced with holes. Maybe a couple of dig marks in the plaster of the walls of the corridor?
Party waste resources on this (it is just a copper dome) and miss the real trap beyond.
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Scratch several semicircular 'drag marks', next to a featureless wall.
Everyone will stand there for ever, searching for the secret door they 'know' is there.
After a few checks, the inevitable call goes out 'We take 20, until we find them!'.
Patrol comes every five minutes, four, three, two, one...
Best bit is that the players will have already argued that they can so all stand in the same space, to Aid Other. You just smile, agree, then set off the patrol's grenades/area spells.
My favorite trap was from the Book of Challenges.
The party walks around a dungeon where several traps have already been sprung. They see a bunch of poor, hapless adventurers who have been killed by said traps. When they get to the middle of the dungeon, all the traps reset.
Of course one of the traps at the end causes the players to flee... good times.
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In a 5 ft wide corridor the PCs see:
A 5 foot wide pit. It is an illusion
A long hallway extending past it. (Actually the 5 feet after the illusion pit is a 20 ft. deep pit covered by the illusion of floor)
Reaction:
Priceless.
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The PCs enter a room with a bunch of goblins. The goblins pull step on a floor tile causing the roof to slowly lower to a height of 4 feet 5". Suddenly the PCs have a bunch of penalties to deal with while the goblins attack them with impunity.
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What I DON'T like are traps that are basically make-work projects for rogues (i.e. "we have a rogue in the party, so I better throw in some random arrow or pit traps to make him happy"). That just slows down the game by having the party check for traps every 5 feet.
I like traps but I use them sparingly and tend to avoid the ones that have 'realistic' (in-game) construction costs in the 10s of thousands of GPs - i.e. the "you'd need a 20th Wizard and an Adamantine Golem to create it" stuff. I particularly like traps that catch the character with a ruse. I used one recently when the characters were exploring a deserted wizard's tower. They wandered into his cloakroom which had a variety of cloaks, robes, jackets, and shoes. Most of the shoes looked normal, one pair seemed 'like new' and a couple of pairs were caked with dried mud. They did a quick Detect Magic focusing on the clothing and shoes. One of the muddy pairs, hidden partly beneath the stool radiated magic. They congratulated themselves on figuring out the 'like new' pair was a ruse. The rogue reached under the stool to grab the 'magic' shoes and happened to touch the stool in the process - the trigger for the trap - which set off an expanded area Ice Storm that hammered the cloakroom and the adjacent entry area where the rest of the party were waiting.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32
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I'd a nice one with a deep pit, full of water and rusty spikes etc. The entrance the party thought they wanted was in a wall halfway down. Cue fly spells etc. Getting the door in the wall open involved disabling a magical trap; a glyph of warding or something. Cue reflex saves if carrying non-flying PCs etc. A succesful disarm opened a small hatch and shone a light revealing the true entrance, further down.
When the trap went off, however, a larger problem became evident. The wall collapsed revealing a small chamber containing a giant scorpion construct capable of reaching into the whole shaft (skullripper from Hook Mountain Massacre) and above it an active Symbol of Sleep.
Oh, that was fun :-)
I'd a nice one with a deep pit, full of water and rusty spikes etc.
I do like pits full of foul and deep water. But I usually like to throw in several strong undead whose only command is to "Fully submerge any visitors until the bubbles stop coming up for... say... 10 minutes."
Probably the best trap type is the 'seal a room' trap - with the trap reset in a secret room not accessible from the actual trapped room. Instant prisoners - preferably connected to some kind of alarm.
Because you un-killing nosy apprentices is expensive.
Traps can be fun but I almost never use them. Most of the time they just don't make sense. They're just there because it's a game about overcoming obstacles. Most populated dungeons with traps would be much more likely to trap the inhabitants. After a particularly stupid trapped dungeon one session, I wrote up a news-release-style article about the Denizen's Union filing an OSHA claim against the Master for the unsafe work environment. As a result, in this article, OSHA demanded that all pit traps had to be surrounded by yellow/black tape on the floor and a sign saying "WARNING: PIT TRAP" on the wall outside every entrance to the room.
When I see an elaborate Rube Goldberg trap in a dungeon I think "Who would BOTHER to build this?" Most of them are, as has been said, busy work for the rogue. Rogues have this neat trap-disarming ability. Most traps are created for the sole purpose of exercising that ability. I find that a little boring.
When I see an elaborate Rube Goldberg trap in a dungeon I think "Who would BOTHER to build this?" Most of them are, as has been said, busy work for the rogue. Rogues have this neat trap-disarming ability. Most traps are created for the sole purpose of exercising that ability. I find that a little boring.
There's one place that elaborate Indiana Jones/Rube Goldberg-style deathtraps seem appropriate (IMO), and that's in a tomb.
Likewise, it makes sense to have an alarm-style trap in a fortified encampment (as long as it's easy enough for the usual residents to avoid).
But keeping a pair of trapped shoes in your closet, for instance? That's stretching it a bit for me.
Kobold Quarterly 8 has an article that describes Traps of the Mind and the Kobold Quarterly website has a trap every tuesday!
Today, there are a couple of high level ones!
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I stick to smaller traps for races that would logically need them to keep up with the Joneses. Some forest-dwelling Kobolds designing a snare-trap that not only hauls a character off in a specific direction, but into a bunch of sharpened sticks, was a classic, and didn't require them to excavate some enormous pit, or build shifting walls.
It's always a hoot to see an adventure that has 300 sp in a box guarded by a trap that costs 5000 gp... Makes you want to slap the bad-guy for being an idjit.
This is an incredible great site full of articles about DMing. They have some very interesting ideas about traps and how to make traps fun for everyone involved instead of being busy work, or just zapping you for damage. Check it out:
http://arsludi.lamemage.com/?s=traps
When I see an elaborate Rube Goldberg trap in a dungeon I think "Who would BOTHER to build this?" Most of them are, as has been said, busy work for the rogue. Rogues have this neat trap-disarming ability. Most traps are created for the sole purpose of exercising that ability. I find that a little boring.
It all depends on the trap and the location.
Traps work best in areas that are not frequently traveled or if they have a relatively simple (but probably concealed/hidden) bypass/override mechanism. Elaborate death-traps, while a staple in some groups, tend not to make sense.
One thing I try to keep in mind when designing traps (like the door and doorknob examples I gave above) is why the traps are there in the first place. In the case of the door and doorknob, these are not something to put on a main entrance or a place that sees a lot of traffic. Because both are "one-shot" traps that need to be replaced when triggered, they don't make much sense on a tomb, either. However, they might make sense on a wizard's treasure vault (avoided by dimension door, phase door, etc.) or the exterior side of a secret exit passage (to prevent infiltration).
When I see an elaborate Rube Goldberg trap in a dungeon I think "Who would BOTHER to build this?" Most of them are, as has been said, busy work for the rogue. Rogues have this neat trap-disarming ability. Most traps are created for the sole purpose of exercising that ability. I find that a little boring.As an aside, I always have Dragons in my games have hobbies. Tapestries, murals, etc. It keeps them busy for the centuries. Anyway, one Dragon DID take trapmaking, and had absolutely crazy Rube Goldberg traps. And scrying gems. So, you know, he could lure adventurers to his lair by attacking some village or caravan (killing only a few, but terrorizing the rest), then watch as they try to get past his labrynth of traps.
At the end, the characters met him, realized they were completly outmatched (Adult Dragon vs low-level characters), but the Dragon was amused they managed to trip EVERY trap in his lair and survive. He gave back the crown (adventure McGuffin) and rewarded them each 5000gp. Before they left, they got him to agree to call for them the next time he needed to test his traps. Also, the Bard offered to publish his books on trapmaking.
Went down as the second most bizzar Dragon encounter ever.
Having read this, I have to wonder, what was the first?
I know this is going to sound like GMing blasphemy, but traps are a great way to make players slow down and think. If your players think they are Leeroy Jenkins (like mine) set a trap on them, and watch their expressions. In one adventure, I prepared a whole hallway of traps (with a reward at the end) expecting the PCs to get beat up a bit. But, after the first trap, they searched and found the bypass.
Elves and Dwarves throw a monkey wrench into this method though.
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When I see an elaborate Rube Goldberg trap in a dungeon I think "Who would BOTHER to build this?" Most of them are, as has been said, busy work for the rogue. Rogues have this neat trap-disarming ability. Most traps are created for the sole purpose of exercising that ability. I find that a little boring.There's one place that elaborate Indiana Jones/Rube Goldberg-style deathtraps seem appropriate (IMO), and that's in a tomb.
Likewise, it makes sense to have an alarm-style trap in a fortified encampment (as long as it's easy enough for the usual residents to avoid).
But keeping a pair of trapped shoes in your closet, for instance? That's stretching it a bit for me.
In a recent adventure I used classic pit traps in the monsters lair. One was at the front gate, and the other was in the tribes throne room. The one in the front entrance way was secured closed by large cords, that in the event of an attack could be cut, arming the trap to be set off by a creatures weight. This in effect became like a portcullis allowing the tribe to retreat into their lair and attack from range or prepare/buff. The kings throne room was like wise triggered by a leaver on the kings's throne. Classic cheese, but reasonably safe day to day, and highly effective.
I've always been a fan of simple traps that can claim lives.
A simple curve in a cavernous dungeon hides a 60ft fall into a deep (20+ ft) pool of stagnant water. The sides are slick from trickling water making it difficult to climb out. The ground on both sides of the pit will crumble down with the weight of an adventurer (reflex saves them from falling in.
Unless two or more members are carrying rope, most anyone who falls in simply drowns. If you're really mean, you can let those who have rope trying to pull fallen character out make a strength check to see if they snap the rope in their efforts.