i've found myself eagerly following some trap discussions here in the DMO forum. the most entertaining reads, in my opinion, have stretched the term 'trap' beyond one falling net or a fire breathing statue. sure, but what happens next? or what enticed an adventurer to get within range? elsewhere i've mentioned that my favorites are those which seem simple or avoidable but players have found (or are given!) reason to act rashly. i'm interested in domino effects and combinations and risk/reward incentives and that one scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark when Indie outruns a giant boulder through the arrow traps he'd so carefully timed before.
what stories can you tell about your party's near disasters with clever trap setups? or, what haven't you tried but you're itching to?
me first? okay. one complex trap idea i've been meaning to shoehorn in revolves around a "lodestone" that the characters pick up and forget. then as they go, the character with the thing triggers runes and pressure plates that everyone else had passed without issue as well as blunting that character's door-kicking or lockpicking attempts there within. like a cursed anti-key the rogue is going to wish he'd let someone else hold onto.
in perhaps not the most subtle example of this, i'm working on a long, cavernous hall with a ground floor ending at a large ornate door under a large ornate stained glass window. above on each long side, the next level up is open but for the many supporting columns. under the narrow bridges connecting the two sides above, the lower hall below feels more like a tunnel or dry canal. the main source of light would be twin bolts of fire spit across the hall level with the columns. the frequency of double firebolts would provide dim lighting on the lowest level and unceasingly shifty shadows amongst the columns. every minute or three a brighter blue glob of fire would replace one of the firebolts and bathe the area briefly in bright light. the firebolts, it should be noted, are exiting the hall ahead of the party through exhaust holes which lead the fire into the further room and illuminate in pulses from behind the large, ornate stained glass window set in that wall. perhaps the next room is some sort of cathedral? to a dragon? pretty, but not much of a trap if you're careful about timing when you cross the bridges once you get up there. hardly worth thinking about!
well, making it to the next room over and climbing up some stairs to come up behind a pulpit facing benches, the party sees that the firebolts passing through the near wall are striking plates on the cathedral far wall. these are worked into a sort of golden spike that disperses the fire in a bright distributed splash behind the pews and presumably lighting up whomsoever was preaching in their presumably shiny robes. the plates are ringed in what appear to be valuable stones like rubies and garnets. and, wouldn't you know it, there's a very tall, very rickety ladder beside one of them and no one around to notice. working carefully, and quickly, a character could time the pattern and easily remove a plate by unscrewing it a little at a time without becoming greatly singed. a careful player would probably wait far below until after a blue flame to do this which would be prudent since those splash significantly wider and hotter. arched doorways to each side of the large window lead to the columns and bridges. that's where the trap finally comes together. the blue bolts, when they come, will track towards those golden plates. they will weave nimbly around the pillars and bridges to home in on the gems specifically. this effect should only occur after they're ambushed by Shadows , Shadow Mastiffs, and maybe even a Shadow Demon or two (why not?). there are many ways for these creatures to hide, take cover, or even become invisible between the many columns. however, the flash of blue is bright and can cause disadvantage to shadow creatures who are busy grappling a gem-holder. the blast also causes a round of blindness (to those with working eyes) and additionally snuffs all the torches and light spells within 15ft of the blast.
it's very important that the characters not have time to dwell on why the rare blue bolts have only now begun chasing them. chatty characters are set upon by a Shadow (even out of initiative order). if they try to cross the bridges there are more shadow creatures on the other side. if they make a stand on the middle of a bridge in an attempt to disadvantage the monsters with firebolt light or bait a foe into a firebolt, they'll find that characters with the plates/stones are secretly disadvantaged at timing the fire. the normal firebolts too will veer very subtly into them. ...aaand that's the trap: players deciding it's clever to stand on narrow bridges as regular firebolts fly past and scary dogs bite at them and sometimes a there's a bigger poof that puts them back in the disadvantage of dim light. if someone falls off it's not a lot of fall damage and it's probably not a significant walk to get back to the group either but it adds to the chaos. i'm highlighting the trap aspect, but clearly there's space here for adding archers, priests, or some nasty swarm to fill the "empty canal" below the bridges and up the tension. or perhaps flipping a lever on the far end of the columns puts out the fires and fills the lower hall with water to float the heavy wooden pulpit in the cathedral room up and away from a chest but also brings out the guardian.
i decided to dip my toes into page two of a "non magical trap" thread only to realize minutes later that i'd forgotten the page 1 premise was 2hrs prep and 10gp budget. sigh. so, here's an expensive trap that probably takes two hours just to reset but certainly not to build originally:
the hallway leading in includes various shields on the wall with heraldry painted on them and crossed swords behind. fairly standard fort decor except for one standout gleam of gold from behind the third shield. looking closer, it's not gold but polished brass. one of the decorative swords' pommels, the weight behind the weapon's grip, has received a great deal of handling. good luck to pat a famous sword, perhaps? or something else? there is, you notice, a fairly sizable (non magical) gemstone set there. would anyone really notice it missing?
jostling the sword in an effort to remove the valuable stone or simply pulling it like a lever causes a click to sound and the bookcase at the end of the hall will swing open an inch. very much like a door. someone would have to be very observant to notice that it was actually two clicks (and not an echo), the other occurring behind. even then, the astute listener would be forgiven for assuming it came from the lock of the door they'd originally entered the hallway from. inside the secret room will be maps, papers, plans, and maybe some leftover golden goblets of wine from a planning session. you've got the goods! now, to get out...
...i haven't decided yet on the mechanism (because i get stuck on details like that (because surely there's a way to avoid the trap, right?)) but, as the secret bookcase door is shut, the floor in the hallway falls away in a cascade. the floorboards are connected through their centers by cables like a suspension bridge. the cables have slackened to allow the rigid surface to bend like a watchband and falls away in a wave that creates a sort of slide to anyone standing at either end before they fall loose. characters take 20ft of fall damage or half with a save by falling into the slide. whee! the pit they fall into is a hallway length cage and on the other side of the bars is a table full of guards playing dominoes. beside them is a rack of crossbows and a bell.
the baron has dismantled more than a few rebel cells in just this way. the fact that no rumors have spread to ruin the trap only goes to show how much the guards enjoy their work. you might have been there only for the loot or following some mystery, but now you're facing armed guards while your pockets are stuffed with incriminating bait documents. if guards elsewhere in the compound were somehow unfamiliar with the source of that clatter, they'll be swarming this room and the one above just as soon as someone rings the bell. good luck telling the guard something they wouldn't rather hear again and again with your feet in a fire.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: providefeedback!
Hunting trap, but there is dynamite attached so when the trap is triggered the dynamite detonates. My players avoided the auto amputation device by casting create water on the room so the gun powder got damp and didn't work well
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Anyone can smith at the cosmic anvil, yet only I can forge a weapon as good as thee."
Hunting trap, but there is dynamite attached so when the trap is triggered the dynamite detonates. My players avoided the auto amputation device by casting create water on the room so the gun powder got damp and didn't work well
reminds me somehow of that picture in the DMG's trap section where the mage is sticking their hand into what appears to be a hungry dungeon food processor.
"looking at this, i wonder if i should be worried that two doors back was an 'armory' that featured a rack of literal prosthetic arms behind warded glass and a coin slot with a big sign stating 'we all need a helping hand, some more than others'. ...mmm, nah."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: providefeedback!
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
i've found myself eagerly following some trap discussions here in the DMO forum. the most entertaining reads, in my opinion, have stretched the term 'trap' beyond one falling net or a fire breathing statue. sure, but what happens next? or what enticed an adventurer to get within range? elsewhere i've mentioned that my favorites are those which seem simple or avoidable but players have found (or are given!) reason to act rashly. i'm interested in domino effects and combinations and risk/reward incentives and that one scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark when Indie outruns a giant boulder through the arrow traps he'd so carefully timed before.
what stories can you tell about your party's near disasters with clever trap setups? or, what haven't you tried but you're itching to?
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
me first? okay. one complex trap idea i've been meaning to shoehorn in revolves around a "lodestone" that the characters pick up and forget. then as they go, the character with the thing triggers runes and pressure plates that everyone else had passed without issue as well as blunting that character's door-kicking or lockpicking attempts there within. like a cursed anti-key the rogue is going to wish he'd let someone else hold onto.
in perhaps not the most subtle example of this, i'm working on a long, cavernous hall with a ground floor ending at a large ornate door under a large ornate stained glass window. above on each long side, the next level up is open but for the many supporting columns. under the narrow bridges connecting the two sides above, the lower hall below feels more like a tunnel or dry canal. the main source of light would be twin bolts of fire spit across the hall level with the columns. the frequency of double firebolts would provide dim lighting on the lowest level and unceasingly shifty shadows amongst the columns. every minute or three a brighter blue glob of fire would replace one of the firebolts and bathe the area briefly in bright light. the firebolts, it should be noted, are exiting the hall ahead of the party through exhaust holes which lead the fire into the further room and illuminate in pulses from behind the large, ornate stained glass window set in that wall. perhaps the next room is some sort of cathedral? to a dragon? pretty, but not much of a trap if you're careful about timing when you cross the bridges once you get up there. hardly worth thinking about!
well, making it to the next room over and climbing up some stairs to come up behind a pulpit facing benches, the party sees that the firebolts passing through the near wall are striking plates on the cathedral far wall. these are worked into a sort of golden spike that disperses the fire in a bright distributed splash behind the pews and presumably lighting up whomsoever was preaching in their presumably shiny robes. the plates are ringed in what appear to be valuable stones like rubies and garnets. and, wouldn't you know it, there's a very tall, very rickety ladder beside one of them and no one around to notice. working carefully, and quickly, a character could time the pattern and easily remove a plate by unscrewing it a little at a time without becoming greatly singed. a careful player would probably wait far below until after a blue flame to do this which would be prudent since those splash significantly wider and hotter. arched doorways to each side of the large window lead to the columns and bridges. that's where the trap finally comes together. the blue bolts, when they come, will track towards those golden plates. they will weave nimbly around the pillars and bridges to home in on the gems specifically. this effect should only occur after they're ambushed by Shadows , Shadow Mastiffs, and maybe even a Shadow Demon or two (why not?). there are many ways for these creatures to hide, take cover, or even become invisible between the many columns. however, the flash of blue is bright and can cause disadvantage to shadow creatures who are busy grappling a gem-holder. the blast also causes a round of blindness (to those with working eyes) and additionally snuffs all the torches and light spells within 15ft of the blast.
it's very important that the characters not have time to dwell on why the rare blue bolts have only now begun chasing them. chatty characters are set upon by a Shadow (even out of initiative order). if they try to cross the bridges there are more shadow creatures on the other side. if they make a stand on the middle of a bridge in an attempt to disadvantage the monsters with firebolt light or bait a foe into a firebolt, they'll find that characters with the plates/stones are secretly disadvantaged at timing the fire. the normal firebolts too will veer very subtly into them. ...aaand that's the trap: players deciding it's clever to stand on narrow bridges as regular firebolts fly past and scary dogs bite at them and sometimes a there's a bigger poof that puts them back in the disadvantage of dim light. if someone falls off it's not a lot of fall damage and it's probably not a significant walk to get back to the group either but it adds to the chaos. i'm highlighting the trap aspect, but clearly there's space here for adding archers, priests, or some nasty swarm to fill the "empty canal" below the bridges and up the tension. or perhaps flipping a lever on the far end of the columns puts out the fires and fills the lower hall with water to float the heavy wooden pulpit in the cathedral room up and away from a chest but also brings out the guardian.
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
i decided to dip my toes into page two of a "non magical trap" thread only to realize minutes later that i'd forgotten the page 1 premise was 2hrs prep and 10gp budget. sigh. so, here's an expensive trap that probably takes two hours just to reset but certainly not to build originally:
the hallway leading in includes various shields on the wall with heraldry painted on them and crossed swords behind. fairly standard fort decor except for one standout gleam of gold from behind the third shield. looking closer, it's not gold but polished brass. one of the decorative swords' pommels, the weight behind the weapon's grip, has received a great deal of handling. good luck to pat a famous sword, perhaps? or something else? there is, you notice, a fairly sizable (non magical) gemstone set there. would anyone really notice it missing?
jostling the sword in an effort to remove the valuable stone or simply pulling it like a lever causes a click to sound and the bookcase at the end of the hall will swing open an inch. very much like a door. someone would have to be very observant to notice that it was actually two clicks (and not an echo), the other occurring behind. even then, the astute listener would be forgiven for assuming it came from the lock of the door they'd originally entered the hallway from. inside the secret room will be maps, papers, plans, and maybe some leftover golden goblets of wine from a planning session. you've got the goods! now, to get out...
...i haven't decided yet on the mechanism (because i get stuck on details like that (because surely there's a way to avoid the trap, right?)) but, as the secret bookcase door is shut, the floor in the hallway falls away in a cascade. the floorboards are connected through their centers by cables like a suspension bridge. the cables have slackened to allow the rigid surface to bend like a watchband and falls away in a wave that creates a sort of slide to anyone standing at either end before they fall loose. characters take 20ft of fall damage or half with a save by falling into the slide. whee! the pit they fall into is a hallway length cage and on the other side of the bars is a table full of guards playing dominoes. beside them is a rack of crossbows and a bell.
the baron has dismantled more than a few rebel cells in just this way. the fact that no rumors have spread to ruin the trap only goes to show how much the guards enjoy their work. you might have been there only for the loot or following some mystery, but now you're facing armed guards while your pockets are stuffed with incriminating bait documents. if guards elsewhere in the compound were somehow unfamiliar with the source of that clatter, they'll be swarming this room and the one above just as soon as someone rings the bell. good luck telling the guard something they wouldn't rather hear again and again with your feet in a fire.
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
Hunting trap, but there is dynamite attached so when the trap is triggered the dynamite detonates. My players avoided the auto amputation device by casting create water on the room so the gun powder got damp and didn't work well
"Anyone can smith at the cosmic anvil, yet only I can forge a weapon as good as thee."
My Homebrew Please click it, they have my family.
reminds me somehow of that picture in the DMG's trap section where the mage is sticking their hand into what appears to be a hungry dungeon food processor.
"looking at this, i wonder if i should be worried that two doors back was an 'armory' that featured a rack of literal prosthetic arms behind warded glass and a coin slot with a big sign stating 'we all need a helping hand, some more than others'. ...mmm, nah."
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!