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Some that spring to mind:
-The clichéd, but always fun, giant chessboard with life-size figures. Are they animated? Or part of a puzzle trap? My personal favorite was when it was really a medusa's lair and she had a flair for decorating the board with her victims. Players kept waiting for the statues to come to life and didn't see her until it was...too late.
-The trap that trips the real trap. The party sets off the trap and nothing happens to them but a trigger falls somewhere else that they run into. Example: someone set off a swinging pendulum blade; dodged the pendulum; and then watched it smash into the false wall that releases the gas; acid; ooze; horde of rats, etc.
-Phantom theater. Characters walk into an underground theater and after a few moments, a whole group of phantoms kicks on with opera or a play, etc. The characters get so jumpy because they don't know if it's real ghosts or just an illusion or what. Congratulations, you just notified all the wandering monsters where you are. Lunchtime!
-Also: random noises are awesome. Don't actually describe anything; just mention it (or throw it in your audio player) as they go about the dungeon. Throw in a creaking rocking chair; murmuring noises; or quiet singing and watch everyone go: "what is that?"
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-The clichéd, but always fun, giant chessboard with life-size figures. Are they animated? Or part of a puzzle trap? My personal favorite was when it was really a medusa's lair and she had a flair for decorating the board with her victims. Players kept waiting for the statues to come to life and didn't see her until it was...too late.
I like a room with the entrance the PCs came in being directly across from a closed door on the other side of a 50' wide room with a checkerboard pattern on the huge floor. The doors are steel and shut and lock 2 rounds after a PC (or PCs) enter the room. They are locked for 10 minutes. After that time they unlock and can be opened. Players usually start running around the Checkerboard trying to act like the pieces of a chess set and it is kinda fun to watch them pick their brains to figure out how the door unlocks.....nothing does though, only time.
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one of my GF's favorites: A gazebo... The person sitting in it ensures that it's just an ordinary gazebo. She seems to be a kindly old lady, and there's a strange calming affect in the garden... When the PCs enter the gazebo... Animates the ivy growing on it to strangle the PCs like a hangman's tree or assassin vine. The woman was an illusion, the calming effect was enchantments, and the illusive smell of flowers, to cover the smell of rotting carcasses under the illusions and enchantments that made it look like a garden. When the PCs are done attacking the vines... Turns out it WAS the Gazebo, which was animated hundreds of years ago and amassed great power ^_^.
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I think it's a reference to Munchkin, as There is a Curse Card called Curse of the Duck.
Actually, in a REAL old Greyhawk book, the Peoples Constables will fine adventurers for "fondling a waterfowl in public", and it's sorta related to a minor quest where you have to get a duck.
I get the impression that those ducks were joking references to the ducks of Runequest. Is that true?
Anyway, I'll never forget the time my seven-year-old son, who had had plenty of experience with RPGs by that time, saw me reading a module ("Deathright" for the "Kingdoms of Kalamar" setting) and asked me to read it to him. I read about how the DM should try to impress upon the players that there is a growing number of undead in the area, with encounters that needn't be combat. One example it gave was "an undead mother duck and her ducklings splashing about in the water at the edge of a river." We laughed at this, and discussed the idea for DAYS.
Someday, I'm going to put a Gazebo in a dungeon. Under ground. Because I can.Knights of the Dinner Table in-joke?
I'm sure most of you already know this, and the comic strip explicitly credits Richard Aronson, but the allegedly true story dates back to the 1980s.
A normal everyday animal, say a rat that sez "hello". It doesnt talk, it just has a spell.
Is it Heinlein? Does it also say "I would like cheeze" and "go to hell"
Quick quiz: name that movie.
Also. As an evolutionist summoner I can now attack you with a gazebo.
Building an attack gazebo construct would work too I bet...
I wonder if there's a thread on the many ways to make an attack gazebo...
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A gazebo with a bulbous bouffant and galoshes, even!
A normal everyday animal, say a rat that sez "hello". It doesnt talk, it just has a spell.Is it Heinlein? Does it also say "I would like cheeze" and "go to hell"
No. His name is Algernon.
Moving on: It's time for Name My Inspiration!
- A small buckskin bag of 1d10 magic beans or nuts with an embossed image of a guy who appears to be flicking a small object into the air and attempting to catch it in his mouth; if a PCs accepts this challenge, they must make a moderate-difficulty Dexterity check; if they fail, the nut/bean crashes to the floor and crumbles to powder; if they succeed, they catch it in their mouth cool-guy style and consequently enjoy the benefits of a cure critical wounds (or even inflict critical wounds, if they're a type of being healed by that instead!) spell.
- Air vents in the wall, floor, or ceiling which, if the party is willing and able to infiltrate and investigate via gaseous form, ethereal jaunt, or similar magic, lead to otherwise-inaccessible rooms with nifty treasure.
- A small room containing nothing but a Catholic Church-style confessional (figure out whichever religion in your campaign's pantheon might practice such a thing); it seems abandoned, but if someone bothers to enter either side of it, a spectral cleric or penitent appears in the other booth and starts talking to the PC; after about a round or two of this, roll 1d4: on a 2 or 3, the specter then fades without consequence; on a 4, the specter leaves behind a small bottle of consecrated wine that acts as a random 1st-level potion; on a 1, the specter is abruptly replaced by a spiritual weapon (as appropriate to whatever religion the confessional is courtesy of) and takes one good swipe at the PC before vanishing.
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Something i read about, mentioned i think at Giant in the Playground.
Several stone pillars/statues
1st) Insert weapon for power => +1 To inserted weapon.
2nd) Insert head for knowledge => +1 To daring character's Intellect.
Cool, i hope we find more of them.
3rd)Insert weapon for power =>Sword got broken.
4th).....Insert head for knowledge...=> foolish character got decapitated.
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Building an attack gazebo construct would work too I bet...
I wonder if there's a thread on the many ways to make an attack gazebo...
...with chicken legs...
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A parrot that you have taught how to say "Help! I've been turned into a parrot!" No magic... just taught the thing how to say it...
Someday, I'm going to put a Gazebo in a dungeon. Under ground. Because I can.Knights of the Dinner Table in-joke?
Except I know at least one of the people who was actually involved in the game with the Gazebo. :) I got to hear the story from his mouth. It's hilarious.
A parrot that you have taught how to say "Help! I've been turned into a parrot!" No magic... just taught the thing how to say it...
Yes!
Someday, I'm going to put a Gazebo in a dungeon. Under ground. Because I can.Knights of the Dinner Table in-joke?
Actually, the original Gazebo story occurred during one of the friends games, one Richard Aronson. It became legend and passed into KotDT.
Actually, the original Gazebo story occurred during one of the friends games, one Richard Aronson. It became legend and passed into KotDT.Someday, I'm going to put a Gazebo in a dungeon. Under ground. Because I can.Knights of the Dinner Table in-joke?
That's what I'm saying. I heard the Gazebo story from someone who was in that game. :)
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I think it's a reference to Munchkin, as There is a Curse Card called Curse of the Duck.Actually, in a REAL old Greyhawk book, the Peoples Constables will fine adventurers for "fondling a waterfowl in public", and it's sorta related to a minor quest where you have to get a duck.I get the impression that those ducks were joking references to the ducks of Runequest. Is that true?
Anyway, I'll never forget the time my seven-year-old son, who had had plenty of experience with RPGs by that time, saw me reading a module ("Deathright" for the "Kingdoms of Kalamar" setting) and asked me to read it to him. I read about how the DM should try to impress upon the players that there is a growing number of undead in the area, with encounters that needn't be combat. One example it gave was "an undead mother duck and her ducklings splashing about in the water at the edge of a river." We laughed at this, and discussed the idea for DAYS.
Someday, I'm going to put a Gazebo in a dungeon. Under ground. Because I can.Knights of the Dinner Table in-joke?I'm sure most of you already know this, and the comic strip explicitly credits Richard Aronson, but the allegedly true story dates back to the 1980s.
Yep. It's true, and it occurred in a game with Richard Aronson, back in the mid-1980s'.
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BEWARE, I LIVE. I HUNGER!
It could be placed in an underground cavern like some Elves have with "stars" glittering the ceiling and plants growing around and a pond, with ducks and a Gazebo and some lawn gnomes...
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Someday, I'm going to put a Gazebo in a dungeon. Under ground. Because I can.Knights of the Dinner Table in-joke?
The KotDT comic is a reference to the old gaming chestnut ""Eric and the Dread Gazebo" that's been kicking around the Internet since the days of USENET and dial-in message boards.
I first heard the "Eric and the Dread Gazebo" story on as part one of a one-two punch involving the infamous player Eric.
The second part was at the climax of the campaign, the PCs were fighting the Demon Lord of the Kuo-Toa at the bottom of the ocean. The party was losing badly: half the party was dead, and the other half were in single-digit hit points. In a desperate move to destroy the demon, Eric's character runs up to the demon lord with a prtoable hole in one hand and a bag of holding in the other. He then sticks the portable hole into the bag of holding right under the demon lord. This opens up a rift in the universe, sucking everything into the Void, including the demon lord and the PCs. A glorious TPK where the PCs save the world
Two weeks later, the group meets to start the next campaign, set on a desert planet where water is a scarce resource. After years of playing in this world, the players realize that they're on the same world as the previous campaign, but 10,000 years in the future. The world is a desert planet now because a void at the bottom of the sea had caused most of the planet's water to disappear...
Wow. They saved the world only to ruin it. LOL
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Your lawn gnomes remind me of some NPCs my party ran into in the dungeon lair that might be good for messing with players.
They were an offshoot of svirfneblin that had the ability to teleport between the fungus gardens scattered in the dungeon. They could also turn themselves into stone statues as a defensive measure.
Their subrace was called garden gnomes.
I FOUND 'EM! Damn y' lot o' nambly cultists, I found me wee men! Now the lot of us're gonna fill the lot of ya fulla buckshot! TO ARMS, YA BASTARDS!
I FOUND 'EM! Damn y' lot o' nambly cultists, I found me wee men! Now the lot of us're gonna fill the lot of ya fulla buckshot! TO ARMS, YA BASTARDS!Your lawn gnomes remind me of some NPCs my party ran into in the dungeon lair that might be good for messing with players.
They were an offshoot of svirfneblin that had the ability to teleport between the fungus gardens scattered in the dungeon. They could also turn themselves into stone statues as a defensive measure.
Their subrace was called garden gnomes.
Correct. It's not the Gazebo that's the threat. ;) It's those damn garden gnomes.
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Geroff me!
(The reference, for those of you who don't get it, is to the...
And now we're combining that with the "Doctor Who: Blink" idea, mentioned in conjunction with the gargoyles yesterday. We're really mixing lots of stuff together in this thread!
The KotDT comic is a reference to the old gaming chestnut ""Eric and the Dread Gazebo" that's been kicking around the Internet since the days of USENET and dial-in message boards.
"This reminds me of the time they lynched that green davenport."
The KotDT comic is a reference to the old gaming chestnut ""Eric and the Dread Gazebo" that's been kicking around the Internet since the days of USENET and dial-in message boards."This reminds me of the time they lynched that green davenport."
Isn't that a piece of furniture?
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...
The second part was at the climax of the campaign, the PCs were fighting the Demon Lord of the Kuo-Toa at the bottom of the ocean. The party was losing badly: half the party was dead, and the other half were in single-digit hit points. In a desperate move to destroy the demon, Eric's character runs up to the demon lord with a prtoable hole in one hand and a bag of holding in the other. He then sticks the portable hole into the bag of holding right under the demon lord. This opens up a rift in the universe, sucking everything into the Void, including the demon lord and the PCs. A glorious TPK where the PCs save the world
Two weeks later, the group meets to start the next campaign, set on a desert planet where water is a scarce resource. After years of playing in this world, the players realize that they're on the same world as the previous campaign, but 10,000 years in the future. The world is a desert planet now because a void at the bottom of the sea had caused most of the planet's water to disappear...
That would be hilarious!
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- A small room containing nothing but a Catholic Church-style confessional (figure out whichever religion in your campaign's pantheon might practice such a thing); it seems abandoned, but if someone bothers to enter either side of it, a spectral cleric or penitent appears in the other booth and starts talking to the PC; after about a round or two of this, roll 1d4: on a 2 or 3, the specter then fades without consequence; on a 4, the specter leaves behind a small bottle of consecrated wine that acts as a random 1st-level potion; on a 1, the specter is abruptly replaced by a spiritual weapon (as appropriate to whatever religion the confessional is courtesy of) and takes one good swipe at the PC before vanishing.
I can't believe I haven't used that SotN "trap" in my game yet. It is so happening now.
Isn't that a piece of furniture?The KotDT comic is a reference to the old gaming chestnut ""Eric and the Dread Gazebo" that's been kicking around the Internet since the days of USENET and dial-in message boards."This reminds me of the time they lynched that green davenport."
Yes - and it was also apparently EVIL! It was part of the homage.
Yes - and it was also apparently EVIL! It was part of the homage.Isn't that a piece of furniture?The KotDT comic is a reference to the old gaming chestnut ""Eric and the Dread Gazebo" that's been kicking around the Internet since the days of USENET and dial-in message boards."This reminds me of the time they lynched that green davenport."
That party must have been really drunk or really bored to lynch furniture...
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Seven statues of dwarves standing around a skeleton on a table, shattered glass around, with plates, knives, and forks in hand. Mining gear scattered around the area.
A dead end room with a single coin slot. The coin slot does nothing, no matter how much copper, silver, gold, or platinum they put into it. On their way out of this particular room, a Magic Mouth spell states "Thank you for donating to (insert big bad evil guy of your campaign)'s campaign. Your charity is much appreciated!"
In a cave system, there's a long corridor with a massive round metal door with the number 101 on it. Around on the ground are skeletons, with signs that read "Let us in!" "We're dying @$$-holes!" and the like.
Yup...Fallout reference :)
There'd be multiple doors like that, with some containing abbarations.
I figured FO3 was old enough to be obscure, lol. I've been designing a Fallout-inspired campaign for a while now The Tech guide made me very happy...
Moving on.
Across a chasme, the party sees a huge corpse (maximum size capacity for Medium, probably) being dug up by some kind of kobold/goblin hybrid, one blue, one red, one green, and one brownish yellow. An old gray one with a lantern hanging over his head on a stick is overseeing the operation.
Moving on: It's time for Name My Inspiration!
- A small buckskin bag of 1d10 magic beans or nuts with an embossed image of a guy who appears to be flicking a small object into the air and attempting to catch it in his mouth; if a PCs accepts this challenge, they must make a moderate-difficulty Dexterity check; if they fail, the nut/bean crashes to the floor and crumbles to powder; if they succeed, they catch it in their mouth cool-guy style and consequently enjoy the benefits of a cure critical wounds (or even inflict critical wounds, if they're a type of being healed by that instead!) spell.
- Air vents in the wall, floor, or ceiling which, if the party is willing and able to infiltrate and investigate via gaseous form, ethereal jaunt, or similar magic, lead to otherwise-inaccessible rooms with nifty treasure.
- A small room containing nothing but a Catholic Church-style confessional (figure out whichever religion in your campaign's pantheon might practice such a thing); it seems abandoned, but if someone bothers to enter either side of it, a spectral cleric or penitent appears in the other booth and starts talking to the PC; after about a round or two of this, roll 1d4: on a 2 or 3, the specter then fades without consequence; on a 4, the specter leaves behind a small bottle of consecrated wine that acts as a random 1st-level potion; on a 1, the specter is abruptly replaced by a spiritual weapon (as appropriate to whatever religion the confessional is courtesy of) and takes one good swipe at the PC before vanishing.
Looks like some Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
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A teleportation trap where the 10 by 10 square floor opens up and the ceiling does the same as one continuous falling trap where they fall down only to reappear out the opening in the ceiling and back down the opening in the floor.
Or have this done like 20 times before the ground re-hardens and they essentially fall 200 feet and take like 38D6 damage.
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Make statistics for the creatures in Dr. Seuss's There's a Wocket In My Pocket!, and make them the monsters the PCs must face when tasked with clearing out some abandoned mansion that the new owner's too NPC to take care of themselves.
It should strike the PCs as a disappointingly-easy dungeon crawl...that is, until they meet the Vug Under the Rug.
If you're really up for something, design a new magic system (kind of a compromise between Ultimate Magic's Words of Power system, and the 3.5 Tome of Magic's Truename Magic) around the "secret alphabet" from On Beyond Zebra!
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So you defeated the evil lady spellcaster and took the handy haversack with her loot, right? Well done! Shame that said Spellcaster was a Lich and is now going to come crawling out of the haversack, really her phylactery, equipped with all the loot you guys put in there...probably acting much like Sadako.
Have an area with an extraordinarily strong Necromantic effect - everything that was once alive is affected. Including the PC's lunch, leather gear, etc. Non-harmful but creepy.
An illusion of a raucous tavern - with a bomb triggered on entering beneath.
A corridor covered in explosive runes, Guarded by a blind creature such as a Mute Hag
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A weird gerbil looking small sized creature in a gigantic helmet standing on the edge of a huge cliff with rocks and churning water at the bottom. Any player who tries to talk to him he looks up and down then says "you're not the one I'm looking for." except when one specific player talks to him he says "You're the one I've been waiting for." smiles and then jumps off the cliff to the churning waters below!
two campaigns later and my players still make "but why did he jump?" jokes whenever they fumble or fail perception checks with a one or two.
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everything that was once alive is affected. Including the PC's lunch, leather gear, etc. Non-harmful but creepy.
Animate dead on the roast turkey?
A mirror with an evil counterpart to the PC. Totally harmless, indestructable, but merely messing with them.
I will use these probably in a campaign, but contrary to the above, they shouldn't have looked into one, which triggers the counterpart to materialize.
An exploding door. I do not need to have that one sprung on me ever again.
A normal everyday animal, say a rat that sez "hello". It doesnt talk, it just has a spell.Is it Heinlein? Does it also say "I would like cheeze" and "go to hell"
Quick quiz: name that movie.
Also. As an evolutionist summoner I can now attack you with a gazebo.
Building an attack gazebo construct would work too I bet...
I wonder if there's a thread on the many ways to make an attack gazebo...
If there isn't you should totally make one!
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-Have a BBEG who is known for animating stonework, and have the bridge to his lair lined with gargoyles and statues of dragons and harpies.
When the PCs try to cross, he animates the bridge itself.
-When the PCs are traveling to a dungeon and just catch sight of the entrance, they see another group of adventurers loading up a wagon with sacks of gold and captured weapons.
"True Seeing" will reveal that this is an illusion cast by the local warlock to keep pesky interlopers away.
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-Have a BBEG who is known for animating stonework, and have the bridge to his lair lined with gargoyles and statues of dragons and harpies.
When the PCs try to cross, he animates the bridge itself.
-When the PCs are traveling to a dungeon and just catch sight of the entrance, they see another group of adventurers loading up a wagon with sacks of gold and captured weapons.
"True Seeing" will reveal that this is an illusion cast by the local warlock to keep pesky interlopers away.
Knowing some players, they'd try to attack the illusion. ;)
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An exploding door. I do not need to have that one sprung on me ever again.
Heh - I mentioned this to my group when they had found some threads on the "you don't need Disable Device, just use an adamantine weapon on it" theory of adventuring (also, pockets of alchemical items to explode if someone cuts through the walls).
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Knowing some players, they'd try to attack the illusion. ;)-Have a BBEG who is known for animating stonework, and have the bridge to his lair lined with gargoyles and statues of dragons and harpies.
When the PCs try to cross, he animates the bridge itself.
-When the PCs are traveling to a dungeon and just catch sight of the entrance, they see another group of adventurers loading up a wagon with sacks of gold and captured weapons.
"True Seeing" will reveal that this is an illusion cast by the local warlock to keep pesky interlopers away.
Or the Darkness.....
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I like to take a random NPC that the party interacts with, and make them more important. It often turns into a pretty good sidequest, and often times, when my players are reminiscing, they have fond memories of those non-standard quests.
Couple examples: Party had retrieved a cool sword which was a touch OP, to be honest and I felt the party needed to 'earn' it a bit more than how it was retrieved. So, I had it get stolen, and a demon eventually got a hold of it. They got it back, but wound up losing it again and had to go off and get it. They became very protective of the sword, and were very pleased with it's performance once they got to use it in battles.
Party was a shoot first, ask questions later type. So, I let them do what they do the next time they ran into a random nameless NPC. Module as written, the guy was just one of the villagers that vanished recently, and had no real info to offer the party. I let the party do what they do, which was take a shot at him first. I let him get hurt, and he took off running, they chased and hit him with some arrows and magic missiles. He got away. They returned to town after the adventure to discover this particular NPC was a relative of the Mayor's . So, that set off a nice little mini-quest/end game of them trying to save face with the village.
I like to throw curve balls like these into my game to keep my players on their toes. It's very easy now-a-days for a player to see the module at a store, online, or even played it before, so I like to mix things up a bit. Just because the Farmer's Daughter was innocent when you read it, doesn't mean she's not a succubus now!
I like to take a random NPC that the party interacts with, and make them more important. It often turns into a pretty good sidequest, and often times, when my players are reminiscing, they have fond memories of those non-standard quests.
Couple examples: Party had retrieved a cool sword which was a touch OP, to be honest and I felt the party needed to 'earn' it a bit more than how it was retrieved. So, I had it get stolen, and a demon eventually got a hold of it. They got it back, but wound up losing it again and had to go off and get it. They became very protective of the sword, and were very pleased with it's performance once they got to use it in battles.
Party was a shoot first, ask questions later type. So, I let them do what they do the next time they ran into a random nameless NPC. Module as written, the guy was just one of the villagers that vanished recently, and had no real info to offer the party. I let the party do what they do, which was take a shot at him first. I let him get hurt, and he took off running, they chased and hit him with some arrows and magic missiles. He got away. They returned to town after the adventure to discover this particular NPC was a relative of the Mayor's . So, that set off a nice little mini-quest/end game of them trying to save face with the village.
I like to throw curve balls like these into my game to keep my players on their toes. It's very easy now-a-days for a player to see the module at a store, online, or even played it before, so I like to mix things up a bit. Just because the Farmer's Daughter was innocent when you read it, doesn't mean she's not a succubus now!
Nice