| Stubs McKenzie |
I searched through archived threads for different folks homebrew'd ideas on how it should function, but didn't find a single concise set of home brewed rules to tear the "crafting traps" page out of the book and replace with a really big sticky note. I would like to try and achieve that here, with the communities help. I know there are going to be differing opinions on just ~how~ it should work, and i am more than happy to try and bring together either: multiple views into one framework, or, multiple views into options 1,2,3 etc on how you would like to run it in your game.
Personally, I like the idea that it stays as a craft, but functions something more like a profession check with special rules. I like it as a craft because you would get paid for your work by the trap, not by the weeks worth of work accomplished, and therefore could not also walk into a town and sell your time, only your product. What i don't like, however, is the idea that you would actually have to pay for each trap made, by the CR of the trap. If, instead, you had a specific list of items needed for each trap (like a recipe book), or a specific (short) list of items that could be used for traps, it would make the cost of traps much simpler. For instance, any trap that includes a spike pit of any sort would have material
Both:
"sharpened sticks" = 0gp (environment) d4 damage
OR
"spears" = 3gp per 5 ft area d6 damage.
And:
"Hole" = 0gp (environment) d6 per 10 ft fall (listed time given to dig a 5x5 hole).
Optional:
If trying to also conceal the hole
"Net" = 4gp per 10x10 sq ft of hole covered, minimum 4gp (Sleight of Hand or Survival roll to conceal the net, whichever is better).
The time it takes to craft any trap would be based on the trap components themselves, and the amount they cost would = double component cost if one was selling their product. The check to successfully complete the trap would still be a Craft:Trap check based on CR.
Another example of a simple trap:
Bolt trap
"Crossbow" = purchase cost, see crossbow damage on pg 143 of the core rulebook
OR
"Sinew" = 1 gp per 2 ft span, minimum 2 ft, d6 + (str mod of creature setting it) (3 rounds)
ALSO
"Piton(trigger)" = 1 sp (1 round to set)
And
"Rope(tripwire)" = 5gp per 100 ft of tripwire (connects trigger to trap location) (movement speed in ft of wire per round, single move action per round only)
The list of items would look something like this:
"Piton(Trigger)" : Bolt, Arrow, Javelin, Poison Dart, Wyvern Arrow, etc
It's not that it wouldn't work this way, but could get confusing/tough to find components... so the more i think about it, the better it would be to make a recipe style book of traps.
What do you guys think? Does anyone have a set of house rules they have created to replace existing rules? I like the idea of being limited to a set of traps based on material you have with you. It does make for some semi-decent note keeping, but could also be hand-waved with a quick "pay x for y uses of general materials" if the DM wanted to move things along.
EDIT:
At the moment I think the list would also be limited to combat traps, or traps that don't take an excessively long time to produce. If you wanted to make a pit trap that had a hinged iron floor covered in a thin sheet of attached stone to conceal its presence that would also be resettable (geared), or a true boulder trap like those in an Egyptian pyramid (which weren't usually meant to be traps, but ways to permanently close a passageway ~ 5-30 ton rock(s) hung above a tunnel and set to drop when triggered) They would be in a different "recipe" book. This would cover simple mechanical and magical traps, including "cave in" traps dealing with explosives or material (often rocks) hung and hidden within a passageway via netting, in-wall traps such as scythe and swinging axe traps (border on limits between short and long), and thrown/slung/ranged traps, as well as most animal traps, net traps, and other simple survival based traps.