Things a DM can put in a dungeon to totally mess with players

[Liranys]

The Indescribable wrote:

Liranys wrote:

Orthos wrote:

I was speaking forward as in publishing order, less than in-story chronological =)

The Magician's Nephew is one of my personal favorites because it explains so much of what went on in Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Yes it does, and the ** spoiler omitted ** It was nice to have an explanation for that damned lamp-post though. (I remember it quite well, just not enough to get subtle references)

Yeah, you totally understand the lamppost after that book, you also understand the Wardrobe itself and Digory (sp?) Why he is how he is and all.

[The Indescribable]

I assume you refer to the old man they lived with, and thank you, you just reminded me of the origin of that wardrobe.

EDIT: Yes you do and correct spelling.

[Liranys]

I practically have the entire series memorize. I've read it more than a dozen times.

[Shadowborn]

1. Take the rust monster.

2. Apply the swarm template from the Advanced Bestiary.

3. Watch the look on your players' faces when the egg sac ruptures, releasing a wave of baby rust monsters upon them.

[GM_Solspiral]

What appears to be a sprinkler system in the ceiling, both a trap setting or a level at the other end of the hall release greasy liquid that turns out to be vegetable oil. A goblin in a hidden alcove has a torch he throws it in the rapidly growing pool of grease hope you didn't fall or get soaked!

[Liranys]

Shadowborn wrote:

1. Take the rust monster.

2. Apply the swarm template from the Advanced Bestiary.

3. Watch the look on your players' faces when the egg sac ruptures, releasing a wave of baby rust monsters upon them.

Dude, that is evil. I like it.

[captain yesterday]

a disenchanter
when you put one of these in your dungeon you learn who's reading the bestiaries by how white the faces get! ;-)

[Haladir]

Liranys wrote:

The Indescribable wrote:

Liranys wrote:

Orthos wrote:

I was speaking forward as in publishing order, less than in-story chronological =)

The Magician's Nephew is one of my personal favorites because it explains so much of what went on in Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Yes it does, and the ** spoiler omitted ** It was nice to have an explanation for that damned lamp-post though. (I remember it quite well, just not enough to get subtle references)

Yeah, you totally understand the lamppost after that book, you also understand the Wardrobe itself and Digory (sp?) Why he is how he is and all.

I read the Narnia books in publication order, but I didn't get to them until I was in my late 20s. I really liked The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, but I liked each successive book less and less. Honestly, I mostly prefer literary wonder to remain mysterious: Almost always, I find in-world explanation to detract from the story far more than it enlightens.

(Why did it take me so long? I tried to read C.S. Lewis' "Space Trilogy" when I was 10 or so, and really didn't like the first book. That pretty much turned me off to C.S. Lewis.)

[Liranys]

I didn't like the space trilogy at all. I did like his greek myth retelling and I like the Narnia books. I really like explanations, perhaps because I like to know how things work. I should have been an engineer, but I can't math.

[Kthulhu]

Shadowborn wrote:

1. Take the rust monster.

2. Apply the swarm template from the Advanced Bestiary.

3. Watch the look on your players' faces when the egg sac ruptures, releasing a wave of baby rust monsters upon them.

For maximum fun, have them be baby celestial rust monsters. And they take a liking to the paladin.

[Liranys]

ROFL

[Edgewood]

A couple of years ago I created an annoying goblin named Urgak. Every once in a while, at the most inopportune times, Urgak would attack the PCs (usually during swanky banquets at the King's court, or in the middle of a town). The rules I made for Urgak were as follows:

1. Urgak would always be 1st level.
2. Urgak would bear the scars of his past deaths.
3. Urgak would always charge screaming, "Urgak attack!!!"
4. Urgak would have no back story.
5. Urgak would appear on a result of 1 on a d100 roll per game.

[Lieutenant Paladine]

That's fantastic! I should start doing that.

[Liranys]

I may steal Urgak too. He sounds like a blast. Although, I may change him a bit since I'd likely use him in a One shot.

[williamoak]

Urgak sound like an interesting idea. Will have to adapt for my setting, but could be funny.

[Liranys]

I think I'll assign Urgak to one of the 100 slots on my Critical failure chart or maybe to a specific target number on a D20.
Hmmm

[Edgewood]

Urgak became a pretty funny distraction in the game. One time, the party sorcerer fried him with a fireball, killing him instantly. Three months later, Uragk returned somewhat singed and battered. The funny thing was they were in a desert and could see someone chasing them just on the horizon and each day they checked the figure would seem closer, gaining on them. Finally after three days they could see that it was Urgak, back for more. They decided to set up an elaborate trap in the hopes of keeping him caged in a deep pit. The ranger who was 17th level created a pit trap that wold ensure that Urgak could never climb out. Of course, Urgak fell in without a fight and dies as a result of the fall. They buried his body thanks to the sorcerer and his earth based spells in hopes that the madness would end.

Fast forward 5 real months and one of the Player said that his character would be going to bed. Suddenly...URGAK ATTACK!! The little ankle biter was in the character's bed under the sheets, caked with desert dust. He always seemed to surface when the players just started to forget about him.

Good times....

[I'm Hiding In Your Closet]

Just be sure to get him with an air, water, wood, metal, and void-based death over the course of the next 5 occasions.

[MaxAstro]

Shadowborn wrote:

1. Take the rust monster.

2. Apply the swarm template from the Advanced Bestiary.

3. Watch the look on your players' faces when the egg sac ruptures, releasing a wave of baby rust monsters upon them.

Totally had a DM pull that on our group once. Most encounters we were approaching carefully, fighting defensively and waiting to see what the enemy was capable of before going in for the kill. This fight, we (luckily) won initiative, caught the swarm with Color Spray, and then fireballed it into oblivion before it could act.

Then we left that part of the dungeon and never came back. :)

Oh, that reminds me of another great idea that DM had. We found an abandoned mineshaft, and were attacked by a heavily armored skeleton. For some reason, this skeleton was immune to our attempts to turn it.

Finally, we discovered that it was actually an animated suit of armor with its former wearer's skeleton trapped inside it, and the skeleton was non-animate.

Then as we were crossing a minecart track we got bludgeoned by a runaway minecart that seemed to be moving on its own. And then we were attacked by a swarm of animated pickaxes...

It turned out that the mine had been abandoned because the miners had struck a magical ore that animated any metal object to touch it.

[UnArcaneElection]

Can't remember if this has been put in the thread already, but how about have a villain (does not have to be the main one, and may or may not be something traditionally considered a monster) use Diplomacy first, and give a REALLY convincing argument (NOT riding on Enchantment magic) for its point of view (and to every magical and non-magical test, the villain seems to really believe the statements, even if the PCs strongly suspect or know them to be false)? If the PCs don't believe the villain but also don't kill it, have something happen later that the villain can point to and say "See? I told you so".

[Chyrone]

In the low light or dark parts,
Children's laughter, luring them ever closer to whatever you feel like letting say "hi" to them.

In a treasury within a desert, a Pit of sarlacc.

[Aaron Bitman]

UnArcaneElection's last post reminds me of the time I ran "Rudwilla's Stew" from Dungeon magazine issue 45.

Rudwilla's Stew:

The party needed help from an old woman named Rudwilla for a diplomatic mission to a tribe of bugbears. At one point, returning to her cottage, they found she had been captured by her enemy. They fought the enemy, captured her, and interrogated her, asking her motives.

This surprised me. It was really just a personal vendetta, but what if the enemy claimed it was more than that?

So I improvised a speech right then and there. "The king is making a mistake! He doesn't know the bugbears like I do! They're savages, and they multiply like rabbits! Make peace with them now, and in a couple of decades, we'll have a whole army of bugbears marching on us! We need to fight them NOW, while we still can!"

I made it sound convincing! The player got worried! And when the PCs ventured into the bugbears' lair to talk peace, those monsters looked a lot scarier than they otherwise would have.

[Dreaming Psion]

captain yesterday wrote:

a disenchanter

when you put one of these in your dungeon you learn who's reading the bestiaries by how white the faces get! ;-)

You could probably take that amalgam template from the Advanced Bestiary and either combine it with a rust monster, a carrion crawler, or both

[I'm Hiding In Your Closet]

A bunch of pairs of shoes/boots/sandals/slippers/peasant foot wrappings lined up by the entrance to the dungeon. See if any of your PCs take their own footwear off before entering. Maybe give a small or subtle reward to those who do (like a secret +1 sacred bonus to AC and saving throws as long as they're in that dungeon, or make certain monsters less likely to target them in battle).

[Shiroi]

Picture a long hallway full of triggered traps. It just seems to go on and on, with axes partially blocking the way, pits opened with wooden bridges placed haphazardly across them or partially fallen inside, gates with holes rusted through them that you can barely squeeze through... mention rust a lot, because when they get to the end of the trap, the treasure chest is already empty, the metal parts of it have fallen off, and a wave of those rust swarm monsters chases them back through the tunnel. Now things they carefully went over, around, and through the first time are high speed obstacles with acrobatics checks and chances to cut yourself on rusted metal or fall into pits. If you don't move fast enough, you get swarmed and all your metal gear dissappears or takes heavy damage depending on how cruel you are.
difficulty is adjustable by changing the length of the hall, the number of obstacles, the dc of obstacles... just remember the slowest speed of the group and don't make them run faster than possible.

[Chyrone]

Something i saw in a campaign i'm following:

Party enters a large room which has darkness and silence in it.
They can't see past 5 ft. On the ceiling are several creeps that suddenly, like in a good horror tension fashion, drag the straggler or the hasty one up. "Where'd [char name] go?"

In the darkness of (this room's) space, nobody can hear you scream.

[The Indescribable]

Shiroi wrote:

just remember the slowest speed of the group and don't make them run faster than possible.

Ooh, Nice. A chance to use the chase rules.

I submit one that will not affect anybody else, unless you had a death like mine. Within a dungeon, is a sliding door that doesn't move. You have to force it open, only to find some strange metallic... thing, and a burnt body slowly rotting away. The reason for this to f@%! with me? I was shoved in a broom closet when nobody could heal me in a star wars game, and they forgot me as they ran from the exploding reactor/imperial base.

[I'm Hiding In Your Closet]

Open Mic Night at the Dungeon Denizen Comedy Club!

[Shiroi]

An entire city where the monsters are at human levels of intelligence, who capture and enslave humans inside stasis spheres, allowing them out to engage in household chores, transportation duties, and as proxies in duels of honor. Cleric, I choose you! Sorcerer, use lightning!

Worse, these creatures register to spells and effects as if they were human, usually of lawful and/or good alignment. The humans register as animals with abnormally high int scores.

Try adding in stasis spheres (wonderous item, activated by keywords to perform two functions. On contact with a humanoid target, the keyword "I got it!" forces the target to make a fortitude or reflex save of a DC appropriate to the encounter. Failure means you become trapped inside until the device is thrown and the keyword "I choose you!" is spoken. For 24 hours after being inside the sphere, you are an NPC under the control of the sphere's user. You receive a new will save each hour after release to end this effect early. If a new wielder captures you and recalls you to the sphere, you belong to the new wielder (so the party could recapture you to end the effect early).

You will be captured in this city if at all possible.

On a separate note, if PC's go where you don't want them and you aren't quick with thinking on your feet, try garish orange signs painted in blood reading "This encounter is under construction by order of the Dungeon Master. Please come die here with us at a later date."

You could put a dungeon inside a dragon. (Size colossal dragon, shrinking spell, things get backwards quickly) for real dungeonception moments, put a dragon inside your dungeon inside your dragon inside the dungeon. For a truly never ending dungeon crawl you can just keep the chain going with spells of forgetfulness keeping people forgetting what just happened, so they dive ever deeper into this nightmare.

[Professional Calvinball]

Overthinking

[The Indescribable]

Professional Calvinball wrote:

Overthinking

Already been mentioned

[Professional Calvinball]

The Indescribable wrote:

Professional Calvinball wrote:

Overthinking

Already been mentioned

Ack! I did a thread search for "overthinking" and it didn't come up.

[The Indescribable]

It wasn't listed as overthinking but the link was the same.

[Shiroi]

Mouse trap. Each trap sets off a new trap, chaining together traps in a giant machine that forces them to race through each trap as it activates... because the door with the treasure will be permanently buried/locked if they don't.

[The Indescribable]

Shiroi wrote:

Mouse trap. Each trap sets off a new trap, chaining together traps in a giant machine that forces them to race through each trap as it activates... because the door with the treasure will be permanently buried/locked if they don't.

That sounds horrible, and incredibly fun.

[Azten]

With the right rouge talent(archetype?) you don't even need the PCs to set the first trap off.

A necromancer. But not a normal one, oh no. This one wears full plate made from what looks like bones(reflavored Dragonhide). What's with that giant constrictor snake? Wait, what do you mean he's casting Greater Magic Fang?! He just cast Shield.. and Shield of faith...

The truth: it's a Nagaji Druid(Naga Aspirant archetype) with the Shade of Uskwood feat.

[Righty_]

1. have a sorcerer walk around casting magic aura to remove auras.
but I can detect magical traps with detect magic.
sorry didn't work out as you planned.

2. all the statues are figures (so the PC's attack them.)

3. Whenever an NPC goes down just say, "he seems dead."

4. keep a notebook behind the screen and tick off rounds, then every once and a while just say #'s 20, 19, 18, 17

[Aranna]

Hmmm... you really want to mess with them and don't care about the forth wall? Put a poster from their favorite cancelled show in the dungeon with a bloody dagger planted in it, and the caption "We killed this one! Wait till you see our next victim."

[Chyrone]

Mention if they want to check the vitals

Decent baddies sometimes get back up after stabilizing.

[Murdock Mudeater]

I had the players encounter a barrel full of skunks one day. A pretty interesting trap, I thought. One of their non-murderous NPC enemies left it.

Party, on the other hand, was "neutral" which just got tossed overboard the unfamilar barrel without opening it, then sunk it with a flaming arrow.

[I'm Hiding In Your Closet]

Midway through a battle, have a harsh whistle sound throughout the dungeon, causing every creature in it (PCs included) to receive a sanctuary spell with an absurdly-high DC for 10d6 minutes, at which point the enemies disengage from combat, sit down, and whip out metal boxes from which they pull sandwiches, fruit, thermoses, et cetera, to eat.

[Aaron Bitman]

Was this inspired by Qui-Gon Jinn's final battle against Darth Maul, when force fields went up between them and Jinn sat down and meditated?

[ElterAgo]

I assumed it was the Looney Tunes cartoons where the sheepdog and wolf take a peaceful lunch break in the middle of fighting to steal/protect the sheep.

[I'm Hiding In Your Closet]

Not so specific, but definitely the latter.

[The Indescribable]

randomly placed tiles that depress when you stand on them and don't appear to do anything.

[I'm Hiding In Your Closet]

Randomly placed tiles that depress when you stand on them, and then SPROING upwards!

[Bruunwald]

A temporally-misplaced McDonalds manned by a crew of goblins determined to run it right, but hampered by a lack of the company handbook (and the fact they are goblins).

[The Elusive Trout]

I made a dungeon out of a dead outsider and put fleshy deformities and decay all over the chambers. Then, to make matters worse, I put a key item in what looked like a floor sphincter. Said hole had trap oozes in it.

[UnArcaneElection]

One thing I remembered described in a 1st Edition dungeon was the boss Lich using a Projected Image spell to get the PCs to waste their spells. Deviously simple. A sort of related idea that I tried to use, but could never pull off, was to have a Mummy minion disguised as the boss Lich.

[Spook205]

I don't know if its this thread or one of the ones on traps but..

Its a jerk move to have a door that opens to a flat wall.

Its a really jerk move to have a door that opens to a flat wall with a symbol of death painted on the bare stone wall (and is thus undetectable until the door opens).

Its a spectacularly jerky move to have a secret door that opens to a flat wall with a symbol of death painted on the bare stone wall.