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Morph Bark
2010-06-23, 05:20 PM
This is a little sort of "mini-game" I made up for a DnD session recently. Though I designed this for use in an E6 campaign, some of it is far beyond the scope of 6th-level characters, where the idea would simply be: go back. This should never be used for characters of really low (1-3) or high (15+) levels as it makes a lot of stuff overbearing or trivial.


Deck of Traps Chess

You start at square A1 on a chess (or checkers board) and can only move vertically or horizontally, one step at a time. Characters cannot occupy the same square; the players must decide which characters goes first, second, third, etc. A square fits up to a Large-sized character. Huge and Gargantuan characters take up four squares and a Colossal character takes up nine (which also causes them to trigger as many trap cards each time they move). Square A1 is never a trap and is the only one that multiple characters can occupy. Characters not standing on the board or near the treasure have no line of sight beyond square A1. The DM may use pawns to block the players’ paths (but they can spend a turn to attack it once, AC 16, touch 4, hardness 10, 20 hp; roll 2d8 to determine the amount of pawns to start with and introduce a new pawn every turn) or put "holes"/pits in the board (it is not recommended that you actually saw holes into your chess/checkers board). Spells or abilities that allow you to fly work for only one turn. Teleportation spells and abilities can get you only two squares far and you trigger the trap.


{table=head]Card number |
Hearts |
Diamonds |
Clubs |
Spades

2 |
Change race |
You gain a gem worth 500 gp, if you die while you have it, you come back as a Necropolitan, but you still lose a level |
Permanent Blindness (Fort 14 negates; on a critical save the character grows a third eye that grants +2 Spot and Search) |
You lose 1d4 limbs (roll 1d4 an equal amount as your result to determine which limbs are lost; 1 right arm, 2 left arm, 3 right leg, 4 left leg); roll 1d20, on a roll of 20 the character might gain fiendish limbs

3 |
Change gender; if you are part of a genderless race, you also change race |
Your limbs are torn off and replaced with golem parts, make four Will saves (15, 17, 21, 27) and gain Half-Golem template (MMII, 1d4: 1 flesh, 2 clay, 3 stone, 4 iron) |
Permanent Deafness (Fort 14 negates; on a critical save the character grows a third ear on their forehead that grants +2 Listen) |
Roll 1d20, on a result of 15-20, the character’s head spontaneously pops off and a +1 keen vorpal scimitar appears in that square (on a 1, the character grows an extra head)

4 |
You die |
You die and are brought back as a Zombie; 1d8: 1 normal Zombie, 2 Bloodthirsty Zombie (LM 173), 3 Diseased Zombie, 4 Fast Zombie, 5 Hunting Zombie, 6 Unkillable Zombie, 7 Corpse Creature (BoVD), 8 roll again |
You die and are brought back as a Skeleton; 1d8: 1 normal Skeleton, 2 Fiery Skeleton (LM 162), 3 Lightning Skeleton, 4 Frost Skeleton, 5 Nimble Skeleton, 6 Soldier Skeleton, 7 Vicious Skeleton, 8 Bone Creature (BoVD) |
You die and are brought back as an undead as per the create undead spell (1d20: 1-11 ghoul, 12-14 ghast, 15-17 mummy, 18-20 mohrg)

5 |
Change age category (1d6: 1 baby, 2 child, 3 adult, 4 middle age, 5 old, 6 venerable), child age gets -5 to Str, -3 Con, -1 to Dex, Int, Wis and Cha and size decreases by one category |
You drop to -9 hp and are instantly stabilized |
Will save DC 20 or become permanently caught in an illusion of a windstorm, disabling you from making Listen/Spot/Search checks and giving everyone full cover and total concealment (50%) against your ranged attacks; DC Fort save or be lifted in the air by the winds and start levitating, if this happens a party member can come and drag/push you along with them or you can use spells or powers to keep moving, remove curse removes |
You die and are brought back as an undead as per the create greater undead spell (1d20: 1-15 shadow, 16-17 wraith, 18-19 spectre, 20 devourer)

6 |
Gain a level in Commoner |
The character goes partly insane, getting uncontrollable tics or tremors (-4 penalty on all attack rolls, checks, and saves, except those purely mental in nature) and being non-understandable as they speak incoherently; they also develop a phobia and must make a DC 20 Will save to even try approach what they fear; they must take drugs (Luhix, BoVD 42) to suppress their tics and incoherency, but the phobia remains; can be cured with restoration in a consecrated area |
Will save DC 20 or become the target of a small thundercloud that attacks every turn (1d6x1d8 electricity damage, Reflex DC 20 half), remove curse removes |
You have to fight a Colossal version of a rat, cat, dog, raven or giant bee (DM’s choice)

7 |
Must kill a Kobold baby or go back one square (this doesn’t trigger the trap in that square, but the players don’t know this) |
Must attack a party member within reach if possible, or go back one square and draw again (must succeed on a DC 15 Will save, otherwise they charge the nearest party member anyway, triggering traps along the way) |
Will save DC 20 or become permanently caught in an illusion of rain or snow (-4 on Spot/Search/Listen/ranged attacks, reduces visibility by half), remove curse removes |
You have to fight a Gargantuan Half-Red Dragon Half-Black Dragon Troll; you may choose to forfeit and go back to square one

8 |
Must kill 2d10 Kobold babies or go back an equivalent amount of squares (this doesn’t trigger the traps in those squares, but the players don’t know this) |
You become obsessed with looks and start to work out like mad, dropping everything you’re holding and gaining muscle at a rapid rate; you gain your Dex mod to Str (so with 13 Dex and 15 Str your Str would go up to 16) and your Dex then drops to 1 and your speed becomes 5 ft; to remove, the character must bathe in holy water (this cannot be done willingly and it deals 1d6 damage and 1d4 Wisdom damage) and then be subjected to remove curse |
Rain of 1d4 arrows with Black Lotus Extract (attack roll +9; 1d6 plus poison; DC 20 Fort negates, 3d6 Con/3d6 Con) |
You must fight a 3HD Medium Conflagration Ooze or go back one square and draw again; the Conflagration Ooze’s Death Throes may hit other players standing close by

9 |
The square is covered in something incredibly disgusting, and you are affected as if struck by the Contagion spell, Fort negates (1d8: 1 Blinding Sickness, DC 19, 1d4 Str and must save again if it deals 2-4 Str damage or become permanently blind; 2 Cackle Fever, DC 19, 1d6 Wis; 3 Filth Fever, DC 15, 1d3 Dex and Con; 4 Mindfire, DC 15, 1d4 Int; 5 Red Ache, DC 18, 1d6 Str; 6 Shakes, DC 16, 1d8 Dex; 7 Slimy Doom, DC 17, 1d4 Con and must save again or 1 point is permanent drain instead; 8 roll again) |
You suddenly feel like you’re starving and as the others look at you, you start to become thinner and weaker-looking; you gain your Str mod to Dex (so with 13 Str and 15 Dex your Dex would go up to 16) and your Str then drops to 1 and you gain a -4 penalty on Fort saves; to remove, the character must bathe in holy water (this cannot be done willingly and it deals 1d6 damage and 1d4 Wisdom damage) and then be subjected to remove curse |
DC 27 Escape Artist check or be caught in an Iron Maiden trap with Colossal Scorpion Venom (attack roll +10; 1d6+6 plus poison; DC 33 Fort negates, 2d8 Str/2d8 Str); each round the Iron Maiden inquires the victim to spill a secret, dealing 1 damage the first round, 5 on the second, 10 on the third and 50 on the fourth and beyond if the victim does not answer, after they have answered the process starts all over again (the damage is all vile damage); the victim or someone standing in an adjacent square can spend a turn to force the Iron Maiden open with a DC 27 Strength check |
You permanently shrink 1d4 size categories and lose the ability to cast spells (or manifest powers)

10 |
A genie appears before you, asking you “What is it that you wish to wish for?”; upon hearing the wish, the genie either (roll 1d6) laughs in their face (1-4), does the opposite of their wish (5), or grants the wish but with a nasty side-effect (6) |
You are permanently petrified (clothes and items unaffected) and all your coins turn to platinum |
Spear trap with Pit Fiend poison (attack roll +10; 1d6+6 plus poison; DC 27 Fort negates, 1d6 Con/Death) |
You permanently grow 1d4 size categories, get 6 Dex drained (no save) and may trigger more traps if you become Huge or larger (DM decides placement, must be centered on current square)

Jack |
Gain the service of 1d4 level 1 Dragon Shamans (who all trigger traps as well); each death has a cumulative 10% chance to summon a hostile wyrmling |
Two children are shackled to your arms, one for each arm, providing a -2 penalty to attack rolls and AC and making your alignment register as Lawful Evil; also, if you try to move more than 20 ft per move action, you must make a DC 10 Str check |
Will save DC 20 or be stuck in an illusion where the sun is shining bright in your eyes, DC 20 Fort or become blinded, even if you aren’t blinded you are permanently dazzles, taking a –1 penalty on attack rolls, Search checks, and Spot checks; remove curse removes |
Gain the service of a low-HD outsider of a diametrically opposed alignment (imp or quasit are recommended); if they kill the creature, they are dealt 120 vile damage, but party members can opt to take part of this damage in place of the victim

Queen |
Gain the service of 1d6-1 level 1 Bards (who all trigger traps as well); if all bards die, a gauth is summoned (at least two bards must have been summoned) |
You become a raving glutton as delicious exotic foods magically appear before you; you drop all you’re holding and start to eat, gaining weight at a rapid rate; you gain your Str and Dex mods to Con (so with 13 Str and 13 Dex and 15 Con your Con would go up to 17) and your Str and Dex then both drop to 1 and your speed becomes 5 ft; to remove, the character must bathe in holy water (this cannot be done willingly and it deals 1d6 damage and 1d4 Wisdom damage) and then be subjected to remove curse |
It suddenly gets real hot/cold for you, DC 16 Fort save or take 1d4 nonlethal damage and become fatigued; characters wearing metal armour are also affected by the effects of the spell heat metal/chill metal, as appropriate |
You have to fight a 4-headed acid hydra (with 27 hp); a cloud of “flames” that is actually acidic fumes is coming from its back

King |
Gain the service of 1d6-1 level 1 Marshals (who all trigger traps as well) |
Gain a get-out-of-jail-free card |
Gain the ownership of a small keep (DMG 101) |
Gain the ownership of a huge castle (DMG 101); your alignment now registers as opposite (unknown to the player unless their character has an alignment-based class; might need atonement)

Ace |
Gain a permanent +6 bonus on your best skill |
Lose all ranks in the skill you have the most ranks in |
Auto-trigger least prismatic wall, can go back one square and draw twice or go back to square one |
You gain a mecha; Will save 25 or Charisma drops to 3 as you become obsessed with it[/table]

Joker (with trademark): gain 10000 XP and draw again.

Joker (without trademark): lose 10000 XP OR draw again twice.

Surrounding the board are piles of treasures. Each pile of treasure can be accessed only from the square it lies next to, and the treasures gradually get more expensive (and powerful) the further towards square H8 (or J10 on a checkers board, even though checkers doesn't use these denominations) you go, starting with level 1 treasure lying next to squares B1 and A2 and gradually increasing to about level 11 near the end (this progression need not be lineair and may be adapted as the DM sees fit, but it is advised not to make it above level 11). If the first two treasures (both level 1 treasures) are taken by party members, the final two treasures are dumped and in their place appears a treasure the wealth of which is equivalent of the starting wealth of a level 20 character (21 if you feel like throwing in an epic item for on-the-whim-plot purposes). The caster levels of the magical items in these treasures should never be above (highest PC's level +2), with the possible exception of scrolls, armour and weapons (just beware of what you give).

The following is purely optional:

The idea is that, after this, the party will have a fight against a really powerful monster, whose CR should be no less that the highest PC's level. The boss monster will send out minions at the PCs (as a guideline, these minions should be 3 levels below lowest-level party member), making the PC that took the highest-level treasure fight three at once, the PC that took the second-highest-level treasure fights two, the PC that took the third-highest-level treasure fights one, and PCs that took level-1 treasure are ignored by minions. The boss monster will stick to its normal tactics.

If the party takes more than a certain amount of rounds, the boss monster and the minions will have buffed themselves, making the fight tougher if more high-level treasure was taken.


The end result? The party might have grown a bit smaller (possibly even TPK'd if unlucky), but will be wiser and richer and likely have had some interesting changes brought upon them that will make for interesting RP experiences. Some of the trap cards might also force the party to cooperate with one another a little, or do a little self-sacrifice. If the party has a hidden Evil character in it, it is likely they will be exposed.

Ilmryn
2010-06-23, 05:40 PM
This is somewhat confusing. Is there supposed to be a trap on each square? I don't see any purpose in going through the middle of the board since all treasure is along the edges. Maybe use "treasure cards" instead?

Morph Bark
2010-06-23, 05:47 PM
This is somewhat confusing. Is there supposed to be a trap on each square? I don't see any purpose in going through the middle of the board since all treasure is along the edges. Maybe use "treasure cards" instead?

I suppose there could be treasure in the middle four squares as well perhaps, but I figured that when I was done with the basic set-up. Hence the addition of pits and pawns. Perhaps I should include something that forces characters to move towards the middle if they wish to avoid a trap effect?

Dogmantra
2010-06-23, 05:54 PM
What I'd do is make the worst effects belong to one suit, the still-bad-but-not-as-much effects another suit, the ones that are sort of neutral but still have some kind of bad effect another suit, and the ones that are either negligible or beneficial the last suit, then have it so when you're on the outside of the board, you only draw from the worst two suits, middle ring of the board, draw from the middle two suits, and the centre of the board, draw from the bottom two suits. However, there's more promise of treasure 'round the edges.

Morph Bark
2010-06-23, 06:21 PM
What I'd do is make the worst effects belong to one suit, the still-bad-but-not-as-much effects another suit, the ones that are sort of neutral but still have some kind of bad effect another suit, and the ones that are either negligible or beneficial the last suit, then have it so when you're on the outside of the board, you only draw from the worst two suits, middle ring of the board, draw from the middle two suits, and the centre of the board, draw from the bottom two suits. However, there's more promise of treasure 'round the edges.

That is a possibility. Hearts has the most beneficial effects, Diamonds has no-save effects, Clubs has save-or-suck effects and Spades has a bunch of "you die" effects or other nasty stuff.

Of course, one can always make other trap decks. I actually have made one for completely random character generation...

Jack_Simth
2010-06-23, 07:24 PM
Some of the traps are relatively neutral, but except for... about two? ... cards, they're all "ruin your character" level punishments. AKA, it's a trap for the greedy.

Also: There's a simple solution: Summoning spells. Drop a Celestial Monkey on a square, see if you like the result. If not, oh well, it's just a summoned critter. If it's fine, tell the monkey to move (into the next square, to test that one), and then step there yourself. If they're "triggers once" effects, then congratulations: You just got all the treasure on the board for the cost of a wand of Summon Monster I (a surprisingly useful item, especially if you can get it at caster level 2+). Otherwise, you just get the ones that aren't surrounded by overly-bad things. But for the most part, you won't be going anywhere if you don't want to roll up a new character. Without something like that, this is "Deck of Many Things" campaign-ending ... if not more so.

By the way: What's the search/disable device DC to get rid of the cards? What's the hardness/hp of the various trap cards? Their caster level for Dispels?

Grumman
2010-06-23, 07:36 PM
I'll be blunt. This deck of traps is the worst idea I've ever seen on this forum. If the idea is to force the PCs to turn around and leave, it would be more honest and less ruinous to the game to just use a wall.

Morph Bark
2010-06-23, 07:40 PM
Some of the traps are relatively neutral, but except for... about two? ... cards, they're all "ruin your character" level punishments. AKA, it's a trap for the greedy.

Also: There's a simple solution: Summoning spells. Drop a Celestial Monkey on a square, see if you like the result. If not, oh well, it's just a summoned critter. If it's fine, tell the monkey to move (into the next square, to test that one), and then step there yourself. If they're "triggers once" effects, then congratulations: You just got all the treasure on the board for the cost of a wand of Summon Monster I (a surprisingly useful item, especially if you can get it at caster level 2+). Otherwise, you just get the ones that aren't surrounded by overly-bad things. But for the most part, you won't be going anywhere if you don't want to roll up a new character. Without something like that, this is "Deck of Many Things" campaign-ending ... if not more so.

By the way: What's the search/disable device DC to get rid of the cards? What's the hardness/hp of the various trap cards? Their caster level for Dispels?

Actually, the idea is that each time someone steps on a square you draw a new card and afterwards it is placed randomly in the deck and the deck is then shuffled. Otherwise, one can rule that the effect that the summoned monster triggers also affects the summoner.

Also, if I have forgotten to mention it: after you get to one of the piles of treasure, you can't get back on the board, nor can you simply step to the next pile. No circumventions of any sort like that.

Morph Bark
2010-06-23, 07:51 PM
I'll be blunt. This deck of traps is the worst idea I've ever seen on this forum. If the idea is to force the PCs to turn around and leave, it would be more honest and less ruinous to the game to just use a wall.

*shrug* There's no pleasing everyone. When I told my players about this idea they were excited about it and interested, wanted to give it a go at least once, so I introduced it in a chamber. There wasn't treasure involved back then either, but they needed only a relatively small amount of "steps" to get to the other side. There were only two of them, but they were level 11. Sure, it was chaotic, but we had a blast and the end result was interesting.

Walls are just boring. And if a player feels like this is one big, er, trap, then they can always just step away and get to the treasure at the first opportunity they get. If you have a party of four characters who all do this, the number of trap cards triggered is... 6. 1 for two of them, 2 for the other two. That's hardly a lot, and many of the things are fixable.

Also, anything after the table, with the whole "boss fight" stuff, is purely optional. This is merely an idea to introduce which is highly mutable and can be changed to fit parties of almost any level and can be made as lethal or as rewarding as what a group would want it to be.

chiasaur11
2010-06-23, 08:11 PM
I dunno. Depends a good deal on greed. The only card it needs is the Ace of Spades.