I’m DMing a campaign where the characters have just been hired to break into a Lich’s dungeon and steal one of the prisoners. This is an international prison called Delirium, where the most high security convicts from across the world are sent. The only payment this lich requires is the right to use the prisoners as lab rats, testing his magical power upon the less important prisoners. However, he still thinks of himself as a force for good, so he does not use creatures like devils/demons unless he has no other option. He also used to be an adventurer by the name of Xeriel Rokehk. He looks back on his adventuring days fondly, and he is still in touch with those members of the party who are still alive. any ideas for traps, situations, magical effects on the prison or potential guards would be very much appreciated.
A trap idea that I had implemented during a Museum heist that would also work in a prison is a type of alarm. When the alarm is triggered, DC20 perception to notice the trap/ DC10 Arcana to understand how it works, (when I did it, it was when a player smashed the glass display case the artifact was in), an auditory vibration spreads out in a 20ft sphere. The closest player within that 20ft to the center is marked. For the next hour, whenever the marked player walks, a loud tuba music (I used the pink elephant parade from Dumbo) can be heard coming from the marked player. This alerts guards to their location annd makes hiding difficult unless they think outside the box.
Mirrors: a) One floor of the prison is a maze of mirrors, but Dopplegangers patrol the maze and will provoke the party or try to confuse them.
or b) The players enter a room with a mirror on the other side, a copy of themselves blocks the way forward. The team can either fight the copies, or exit through the door they came in from which will now progress them forward in the prison.
If the Lich has an adventuring history the party is familiar with, then a puzzle that utilizes their knowledge of the world is an idea: The players enter a room with eight paintings hung on the walls. Each painting depicts a famous location within your world, behind one of the paintings is the way forward, the others are booby trapped. A question can be written on the wall that hints to the correct painting. The location can be relevant to the lich's life, or some other important event in the world's history.
sickening radiance is a good hazard for a self proclaimed good lich. It feels like a kind of corrupted radiant damage and it's also a good way to put a time on things. A simple usage would be just putting it's effect in a room that takes time to open because it has a puzzle or locked door. Then the players then need to find a way to resist the light to survive while opening the door. Thematically such a trap can work like as air lock/lock down to stop prisoners from escaping or a self disinfecting lab. A similar effect could also be obtained with a poisonous gas , fire or plain radiant damage but I like the feel of sickening radiance.
Another interesting hazard for a prison or mad scientist would be a magnet. It would essentially be an object that casts lightning lure on anything metal. It could take the form of a kind of metal detector that prevents weapons coming in to an area or some kind of experimental device like a magical primitive MRI machine. This device could be active while the players fight some kind of guard or experiment mixing up the combat or it could just be a barrier they need to get past.
Another good option is a room with some of the prisoners old belongings or contraband but they've been cursed so if the players take them they suffer some kind of effect. Possibly a disease from contagion or some kind of weakening effect that makes it harder to flee and fight.
You can also have some silly things that aren't so much traps as strange devices like a chamber that if you enter it and activate it you posses one of the experiments per the magic jar .
Edit: Just had another idea. Maybe the lich has cursed prison cells which he sees a less cruel. They might charm any one other than the lich who enters them. The lich may also modify memories or suppress emotions in prisoners to make them more docile.
I’m DMing a campaign where the characters have just been hired to break into a Lich’s dungeon and steal one of the prisoners. This is an international prison called Delirium, where the most high security convicts from across the world are sent. The only payment this lich requires is the right to use the prisoners as lab rats, testing his magical power upon the less important prisoners.
However, he still thinks of himself as a force for good, so he does not use creatures like devils/demons unless he has no other option. He also used to be an adventurer by the name of Xeriel Rokehk. He looks back on his adventuring days fondly, and he is still in touch with those members of the party who are still alive.
any ideas for traps, situations, magical effects on the prison or potential guards would be very much appreciated.
Be Excellent to one another. Rock on dude.
A trap idea that I had implemented during a Museum heist that would also work in a prison is a type of alarm. When the alarm is triggered, DC20 perception to notice the trap/ DC10 Arcana to understand how it works, (when I did it, it was when a player smashed the glass display case the artifact was in), an auditory vibration spreads out in a 20ft sphere. The closest player within that 20ft to the center is marked. For the next hour, whenever the marked player walks, a loud tuba music (I used the pink elephant parade from Dumbo) can be heard coming from the marked player. This alerts guards to their location annd makes hiding difficult unless they think outside the box.
Mirrors: a) One floor of the prison is a maze of mirrors, but Dopplegangers patrol the maze and will provoke the party or try to confuse them.
or b) The players enter a room with a mirror on the other side, a copy of themselves blocks the way forward. The team can either fight the copies, or exit through the door they came in from which will now progress them forward in the prison.
If the Lich has an adventuring history the party is familiar with, then a puzzle that utilizes their knowledge of the world is an idea: The players enter a room with eight paintings hung on the walls. Each painting depicts a famous location within your world, behind one of the paintings is the way forward, the others are booby trapped. A question can be written on the wall that hints to the correct painting. The location can be relevant to the lich's life, or some other important event in the world's history.
sickening radiance is a good hazard for a self proclaimed good lich. It feels like a kind of corrupted radiant damage and it's also a good way to put a time on things. A simple usage would be just putting it's effect in a room that takes time to open because it has a puzzle or locked door. Then the players then need to find a way to resist the light to survive while opening the door. Thematically such a trap can work like as air lock/lock down to stop prisoners from escaping or a self disinfecting lab. A similar effect could also be obtained with a poisonous gas , fire or plain radiant damage but I like the feel of sickening radiance.
Another interesting hazard for a prison or mad scientist would be a magnet. It would essentially be an object that casts lightning lure on anything metal. It could take the form of a kind of metal detector that prevents weapons coming in to an area or some kind of experimental device like a magical primitive MRI machine. This device could be active while the players fight some kind of guard or experiment mixing up the combat or it could just be a barrier they need to get past.
Another good option is a room with some of the prisoners old belongings or contraband but they've been cursed so if the players take them they suffer some kind of effect. Possibly a disease from contagion or some kind of weakening effect that makes it harder to flee and fight.
You can also have some silly things that aren't so much traps as strange devices like a chamber that if you enter it and activate it you posses one of the experiments per the magic jar .
Edit: Just had another idea. Maybe the lich has cursed prison cells which he sees a less cruel. They might charm any one other than the lich who enters them. The lich may also modify memories or suppress emotions in prisoners to make them more docile.