I am designing a gnome village located in the mountains. To enter you have to get past the illusory mountainside that hides the main entrance and then you are met with a series of traps that are designed to be more like pranks and do not deal damage. There are a way for the residents to test how well the newcomers can take a joke which will determine how friendly and helpful the residents will be.
Any ideas for pranky traps?
Thanks!
Edit: I am thinking tinkering technology paired with illusory magic for most things.
I had a kobold trap once where the kobolds devised a tic-tac-toe machine that played against the players...but very poorly. I believe it said there was a treasure for winning. When the players inevitably won, their wooden pieces completed a circuit that blew up the board! (If they’d lost, they would have been fine.) The kobolds found it hilarious. I could totally see that as a gnome trap, but replacing the explosion with a glitter bomb or cuckoo-clock bird exploding out of the board.
What I mean by this is a room where any creature with a passive perception score of 12 or lower who does not investigate the room can cross as though there were a floor. Otherwise, they fall a few seconds after they notice, Looney Tunes style. At the bottom you could put whatever you wish.
a trap which is defeated by laughter. So a series of fake tiles with symbols on them which disguise pools of water deep enough to fall into. If you laugh, they will stop dropping you into them. The players might think the symbols matter, but actually it's how funny you find it. If you don't laugh, you will keep falling in.
a pie fight. as in, the only way to open the door is if every party member throws a pie at another party member. Just leave them a locked door and a load of pies, it'll probably be inevitable.
The Dunk tank. the party finds themselves stood on a platform which is clearly designed to fall into the water below. They have to do something (like throw balls through a hoop) to stop this.
The party's voices become comedically squeaky, prompting saves for something akin to Tasha's laughter.
3 slides to choose from - one doesn't land in a water tank. Throw them a riddle to work out the right one, preferably relating to the Gnomes ideals.
a programmed illusion of a powerful dragon/flying beast swoops down to attack them. If they attack it, it turns out to be a piñata full of flour. Best done after the party becomes soaked through, so it sticks!
Lots of illusion doors, which prompt bursts of paint to spray from behind them if they are attempted to be opened.
I was reading an old Reddit thread yesterday, looking for puzzles, and I came across this:
An unlocked, non-magical door, which can be used only if you knock, and ask politely if you may come in. Somewhere in the room is a sign that says “Be Nice,” or something more clever. If the PCs try to go through the door without knocking and/ requesting, break it down, dispel magic, use teleportation magic, etc., it flies open, and a large, spectral fist pops out and punches everyone within five or ten feet of the door, for 1D4 bludgeoning damage.
I laughed until I cried, reading the original post! I wish I had it bookmarked.
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Hello!
I am designing a gnome village located in the mountains. To enter you have to get past the illusory mountainside that hides the main entrance and then you are met with a series of traps that are designed to be more like pranks and do not deal damage. There are a way for the residents to test how well the newcomers can take a joke which will determine how friendly and helpful the residents will be.
Any ideas for pranky traps?
Thanks!
Edit: I am thinking tinkering technology paired with illusory magic for most things.
I had a kobold trap once where the kobolds devised a tic-tac-toe machine that played against the players...but very poorly. I believe it said there was a treasure for winning. When the players inevitably won, their wooden pieces completed a circuit that blew up the board! (If they’d lost, they would have been fine.) The kobolds found it hilarious. I could totally see that as a gnome trap, but replacing the explosion with a glitter bomb or cuckoo-clock bird exploding out of the board.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
A floor that does not exist.
What I mean by this is a room where any creature with a passive perception score of 12 or lower who does not investigate the room can cross as though there were a floor. Otherwise, they fall a few seconds after they notice, Looney Tunes style. At the bottom you could put whatever you wish.
Turn their skin blue (unless it’s naturally blue, then orange or something).
They get the giggles. Not like Tasha’s laughter level. Just enough to be annoying without mechanical penalty.
Everything smells like beef stew.
Everyone’s hair gets really poofy. Like 80’s metal poofy.
They get the baby shark song stuck in their head.
OMG. One of my players is a Minotaur. I need this to happen.
I love this idea!
a trap which is defeated by laughter. So a series of fake tiles with symbols on them which disguise pools of water deep enough to fall into. If you laugh, they will stop dropping you into them. The players might think the symbols matter, but actually it's how funny you find it. If you don't laugh, you will keep falling in.
a pie fight. as in, the only way to open the door is if every party member throws a pie at another party member. Just leave them a locked door and a load of pies, it'll probably be inevitable.
The Dunk tank. the party finds themselves stood on a platform which is clearly designed to fall into the water below. They have to do something (like throw balls through a hoop) to stop this.
The party's voices become comedically squeaky, prompting saves for something akin to Tasha's laughter.
3 slides to choose from - one doesn't land in a water tank. Throw them a riddle to work out the right one, preferably relating to the Gnomes ideals.
a programmed illusion of a powerful dragon/flying beast swoops down to attack them. If they attack it, it turns out to be a piñata full of flour. Best done after the party becomes soaked through, so it sticks!
Lots of illusion doors, which prompt bursts of paint to spray from behind them if they are attempted to be opened.
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I was reading an old Reddit thread yesterday, looking for puzzles, and I came across this:
An unlocked, non-magical door, which can be used only if you knock, and ask politely if you may come in. Somewhere in the room is a sign that says “Be Nice,” or something more clever. If the PCs try to go through the door without knocking and/ requesting, break it down, dispel magic, use teleportation magic, etc., it flies open, and a large, spectral fist pops out and punches everyone within five or ten feet of the door, for 1D4 bludgeoning damage.
I laughed until I cried, reading the original post! I wish I had it bookmarked.
I live with several severe autoimmune conditions. If I don’t get back to you right away, it’s probably because I’m not feeling well.