Door Traps, puzzles, riddles, etc. (3.5)

[Harperfan7]

So, just post any good ideas you have or have used before for doors in a dungeon and complications that come with them.

I'm looking for ideas for a dungeon I'm going to be DMing soon.

[deuxhero]

Check the Whats a DM to do board on gleemax, there is a thread with over 1001 for use.

[shadzar]

:smallbiggrin: Do the nasty video game technique. You find the door, but the key for the puzzle is 2 floors up.

The door itself tells you where to find the "key", and the key is another puzzle to find the clue to use when trying to open the door.

Key meaning code-key or something, but the door just calls it a key so people think normal key rather than a code.

[Vorpal word]

This might come in handy for a castle whose owners are paranoid of vampires:
Have a room with mirrors covering every inch of wall (but not floor or ceiling). One mirror is actually a secret door, but it can only be opened normally from the other side. However, looking into one particular mirror allows you to see a door rather than a mirror in that particular place. Following which the players must break down the door to get through.

To make it more interesting, maybe have there be two rooms, one of which allows you to see the door in the other, and which are separated by a wall of force spell. That way the players have to remember which one it was. =)

[Talon Sky]

Rig a door to dump a bucket of gravy on the PC's, and then a tripwire that releases caged, starving predatory animals of any kind.

Fun times ;p

[Glyde]

Massive heavy door that opens so the hinges are on the bottom. Splat.

[Keld Denar]

Door is actually a Mimic, chillin out to catch the breeze in the hallway and maybe pick up a snack. Make it REALLY cowerdly, and if its initial attack doesn't gobble someone up and it starts getting a bit beat up, have it surrender and grovel for its life. Have it tell the adventurers that it knows the secret to get past another deadly trap further down in the dungeon, and if they let it live, it'll help them overcome the trap. Make sure it fawns a lot on any PC that hurt it the most, making liberal use of the word Master.

Great RP time, and if you want it to have a sinister side, have it backstab the party at an inopportune moment, such as when it makes itself into a bridge to help the party across a pit, then dropping away, splitting up the party right when the 20 skeletons come charging out of a side passageway.

Gotta love Mimics!

[Assassin89]

There are two door in a hallway. By answering a riddle, only one door opens. If the party gives the incorrect answer, the path to death opens. The other door leads to the next room.

A different door is covered with gold and gems. Anyone who touches it must make a will save or be possessed by greed, guarding the door and attacking anyone who tries to touch the door.

[Olo Demonsbane]

My favorite Door trap:

You walk forward and see a circular door, shrouded as if by mist. The smoke from your torches drifts twoards it. In the room, there are [heaps of gold/a dragon/women/the macguffin/something your players would want].

Inserted into the door is a noiseless fan. That is why the room is slightly concealed. The blades are bladed and barbed.

My favorite Door puzzle:

The characters walk into a room and the doors, both in front of them and behind them, slam shut. Inform them that an hour glass sits on the counter beside a red button. Start counting down from 10. As you get lower, most players will panic, which flips the hourglass, reseting the time. If the players let the timer run to 0, the doors reopen. Try it with your players.

My favorite Door riddle:

The PCs are locked in a room, and they see two statues. The statues answer any question about the room/the door/the statues truthfully, but they switch apparently at random. The players must figure out why they answer the questions that they do. Answer: The first statue answers questions that begin with the letters A-M, the second N-Z.

[random11]

Don't want to be a party spoiler, but there is one thing you need to ask yourself as a DM: Why are the obstacles there?

Usually, there is no real logic in asking meaningful riddles when a secret password can serve the user better.
You need to find a good reason why the owner of the place would reward a key to his place for some acrobatic/skill/knowledge skill tests.
It is also not obvious that someone will trap his own place in a way that he will have to be careful every single time he enters his own place. There is a limit of times you can use the excuse of "paranoid wizard".

If you think of solid reasoning of what exactly motivates the owner of the place, maybe then it will be easier to plan what kind of things he will use.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Pit trap, gelatinous cube at the bottom. Best if the trap only triggers when two or more creatures are on it, and the PCs happen to encounter it when chasing a lone monster. Anyone who falls in the pit lands on the cube and is automatically engulfed. Anyone who manages to escape the cube must either fly or climb off of it on the same round, if anyone ends their turn standing on top of the cube it won't willingly support their weight and they'll be automatically engulfed again. It can make melee attacks against anyone trying to climb up the sides to escape it or anyone flying overhead. If a rope is lowered down it will likely mistake it for a creature and attempt to yank it in to consume it. This gets even better if whatever they were chasing finds some friends and comes back to fight them while half the party is in the cube.

[Talon Sky]

My favorite Door puzzle:

The characters walk into a room and the doors, both in front of them and behind them, slam shut. Inform them that an hour glass sits on the counter beside a red button. Start counting down from 10. As you get lower, most players will panic, which flips the hourglass, reseting the time. If the players let the timer run to 0, the doors reopen. Try it with your players.



I have to try this :D