PDA

View Full Version : trapsmith redux (3.5 dungeonscape)



Stycotl
2011-01-03, 11:31 PM
Trapsmith Redux

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/dungeonscape_gallery/102774.jpg

From Dungeonscape. Changes are in dark red.

Entry Requirements
Skills: Craft (trapmaking) 8 ranks, Disable Device 8 ranks, Open Locks 5 ranks, Search 8 ranks
Special: Trapfinding class feature

Class Skills (6+Int mod/level): Appraise, Craft, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Knowledge (architecture/engineering), Knowledge (dungeoneering), Listen, Open Lock, Profession, Search, Sleight of Hand, Spot, Use Rope

{table]Level|Bab|Fort|Ref|Will|Feature
1|+0|+0|+2|+0 |Hasty booby traps, master disarmer, quick fingers, trap sense +1
2|+2|+0|+3|+0|Arrow proof, lethal traps, sneak attack +1d6
3|+3|+1|+3|+1|Advanced booby traps, unweave, trap sense +2
4|+3|+1|+4|+1|Dance through danger, sneak attack +2d6, spell proof
5|+4|+1|+4|+1|Avoid disaster, expanded discipline, trap sense +3[/table]

Spells Known
{table=head]Level|0th|1st|2nd|3rd
1st|4|2|-|-
2nd|5|3|-|-
3rd|5|3|2|-
4th|6|4|3|-
5th|6|4|3|2[/table]

Spells Per Day
{table=head]Level|0th|1st|2nd|3rd
1st|3|1|-|-
2nd|4|2|-|-
3rd|4|2|1|-
4th|5|3|2|-
5th|5|3|2|1[/table]

Hasty Booby Traps (Ex): You can quickly set up simple booby traps to harm and hinder your foes. When setting up a trap, make a Craft (trapmaking) check. The check result is the DC of an attempt to find the trap making a Search check. Half of the check result is the DC of an attempt to disable the trap by making a Disable Device check. The check result affects other variables too, as detailed below. Setting a hasty booby trap is usually a full-round action, though some take longer as noted below.

Master Disarmer (Ex): Your skill at finding and disarming traps is legendary. When dealing with a trap, add your trapsmith level to your Search checks, Disable Device checks, Open Locks checks, and Craft (trapmaking) checks.

Quick Fingers (Ex): Starting at 1st level, you can disarm traps more quickly. When you attempt a Disable Device check, use the table below in place of the table on page 72 of the Player's Handbook. If you have the quick fingers alternate class feature, reduce the time needed for the checks on difficult and wicked traps to 1d3 rounds.

{table]Device|Time|Disable Device DC
Simple|standard|10
Tricky|1 full round|15
Difficult|1d4 rounds|20
Wicked|1d4 rounds|25+[/table]

Trap Sense (Ex): You are adept at evading the effects of traps, gaining a bonus at 1st level, 3rd level, and 5th level to Reflex saves made to avoid traps, and a +1 dodge bonus to AC against attacks made by traps. Trap sense gained from other sources (such as barbarian levels) stacks with this benefit.

Spells: If you are smart enough, you might gain the ability to cast arcane spells. To cast a particular spell, you must have an Intelligence score of at least 10+the spell's level. Your bonus spells are based on your Intelligence. Saves to avoid the effects of your spells have a DC of 10+spell level+Int mod. Your caster level for these spells equals your ranks in the Craft (trapmaking) skill -3.

You cast spells as a bard does. Choose your spells from the following list.
0––alarm, animate rope, caltrops (SC), dancing lights, detect magic, detect poison, detect secret doors, ghost sounds, mending, open/close, prestidigitation, read magic
1––arcane lock, arcane sight, burrow (SC), cat's grace, clairaudience/clairvoyance, dispel magic, dispel ward (SC), ethereal chamber (SC), fox's cunning, gaseous form, greater mage hand (MF), haste, hold portal, instant locksmith (SC), instant search (SC), knock, locate object, magecraft (ECS), master's touch (PHII), nerveskitter (SC), obscure object, phantom trap, poison, protection from energy, see invisibility, sign of sealing (CAr), tremorsense (SC), wall of gloom (SC)
2––anticipate teleportation (SC), arcane eye, blindsight (SC), dimension door, dimensional anchor, escape from the real (DO), fabricate, greater alarm (SC), illusory wall, improvisation (SC), invisibility, lesser globe of invulnerability, minor creation, neutralize poison, otiluke's resilient sphere, stoneskin, stoneshape, trombiand's crystalbrittle (CSW), wall of fire, whirling blade (CAr)
3––battlefield fortification (HB), bigby's interposing hand, break enchantment, greater dispel magic, greater invisibility, greater sign of sealing (CAr), greater stoneshape (SC), hardening (MF), illusory pit (SC), major creation, scry trap (ME), shape metal (RF), suppress glyphs (SC), wall of dispel magic (SC), wall of gears (SC), wall of stone, wind back the key (DO)

References

@ = me! links forthcoming
CAd = Complete Adventurer
CAr = Complete Arcane
CSW = forgotten realms city of splendors: waterdeep
DO = the demented one; links forthcoming
ECS = Eberron Campaign Setting
HB = heroes of battle
LEF = forgotten realms lost empire of faerun
ME = Magic of Eberron
MF = Magic of Faerun
PHII = players handbook II
RD = races of the dragon
RF = forgotten realms races of faerun
SC = spell compendium
UD = forgotten realms underdark[/COLOR]

Arrow Proof (Su): When a trap activates, you know how to lessen the impact and reduce the damage. Starting at 2nd level, you gain DR 5/– against the effects of a trap. The reduction applies only to damage from physical attacks, such as crossbows, crushing blocks, pits, etc. Damage caused by spells or magic effects is not reduced.

DR gained from multiple sources stacks, but only for damage caused by traps.

Lethal Traps (Ex): At 2nd level, if one of your booby traps affects a flat-footed target, the trap deals your sneak attack damage on top of its other effects. Sneak attack damage can only be dealt through traps that deal hit point or ability damage, and the additional damage is of the same type as the trap's primary damage, if hit point damage, or negative energy damage if the trap deals primarily ability damage.

At 4th level, the sneak attack damage dealt by one of your booby traps to a flat-footed target is no longer considered precision damage, and thus affects constructs, elementals, undead, etc. Further, if you attack a foe targetted by a trap that you created (not just booby traps) that has been triggered in the same round, you are considered to be flanking that target until the beginning of your next turn.

Advanced Booby Traps (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, your skill improves such that you can create advanced versions of the hasty booby traps you already know. This gives you a number of templates that you can stack onto any booby trap you make.

Unweave (Su): At 3rd level, your understanding of magic traps allows you to unweave their magic, a if targeting the trap with a dispel magic. Your caster level for this ability equals 5+ you trapsmith level. You can use this ability 3/day, and it only works against magic traps, but spells such as alarm, glyph of warding, and the symbol spells are valid targets.

Spell Proof (Su): Starting at 4th level, you enjoy a measure of protection against magic traps. You gain SR equal to 15+ your HD. This SR applies only to magical traps, which includes spells such as firetrap, explosive runes, glyph of warding, and the symbol spells.

Avoid Disaster (Su): At 5th level, you learn to negate the effects of a trap as they happen. Three times per day when a trap is sprung, you can make a Disable Device check as an immediate action. If the check succeeds, you quickly disable the trap and avoid its effects. If the check fails, the trap activates as normal.

Expanded Discipline (Ex): At 5th level, you can add the advanced booby trap templates to any trap you create, not just booby traps.

Hasty Booby Traps

A trapsmith can create a number of different traps to hinder and harm foes. Each trap described below includes information on its area effects, base cost, and cost per use. The base cost covers the parts of the trap that are reusable if recovered. The cost per use covers the pieces that are destroyed or expended when the trap is set off. All traps below are mechanical traps with a touch trigger.

Setting a hasty booby trap requires a Craft (trapmaking) check, with a DC equal to 20+2x trapsmith level, to a maximum DC (before advanced booby trap templates or other modifiers are added) of 30. You can lower the Craft DC to a minimum of DC 20 if you wish, though the attack rolls, Disable Device and Search check DCs, and saving throw DCs of the final trap are lowered by a like number.

A trapsmith can disable and disassemble one of his own traps without making a check. This process takes approximately one minute.

Alarm Trap: This trap is little more than a series of bells attached to a thin trip wire. When the wire is breached, the bells ring, and anyone within earshot is automatically alerted to the noise. Further, resting and sleeping individuals (not magically sleeping) within 10 feet of the trap per trapsmith level are automatically awakened, and anyone within 10 feet of the intrusion per trapsmith level can attempt a DC -5 Listen check to pinpoint the exact location of the perimeter breach. This trap takes 1 round to set up per 10 feet of trip wire used. Anyone who runs into the trap can attempt a Reflex save to avoid setting it off (DC equals half of your Craft (trapmaking) check result).
Base cost: 1 gp/10'

Bolt Trap: This trap fires up to one light or heavy crossbow for every 4 ranks in the Craft (trapmaking) skill that you have, at one target that breaks a tripwire. The crossbows make a single attack each with a bonus equal to any enhancement bonus of the crossbows, and 1/2 your Craft check result. The bolts deal standard damage for their type, with a bonus equal to your trapsmith level, and you can use masterwork or magic crossbows and bolts to enhance the damage. The trap must be reset after the crossbows fire. The trap can cover a line of up to 20 feet.
Base Cost: 35 gp (light crossbow) or 50 gp (heavy crossbow); and +300 gp for a masterwork crossbow.
Cost/Use: None, or the cost of the ammunition if it is masterwork or magic.

Drop Trap: A heavy or dangerous item is rigged to fall on anyone who crosses a trip line. When the line is breached, the item drops, making a touch attack with a bonus equal to 1/2 your Craft check result. You can rig up to 1 alchemical item per trapsmith level (which deal damage appropriate to the items), a net (which entangles its targets unless they make an Escape Artist check equal to half of your Craft (trapmaking) check result), or a heavy object or group of heavy objects, such as a boulder or a pile of rocks (when dropping a single heavy item or a group of heavy items, the trap does 1d6 bludgeoning damage per trapsmith level for every full round spent preparing the trap, to a maximum of 1d6/2 ranks of your Craft (trapmaking) skill). A trap that drops heavy objects or alchemical items can cover only a single 5-foot square area, but a sufficiently large net can be made to affect one 5-foot square per trapsmith level, though they must be adjacent to each other and fit underneath a fully opened net (it would still only be a single grid square that could trigger the net). If a heavy item could not be reasonably lifted, rolled or pushed up to the area that it needs to fall from, because it is too heavy to move, or too heavy to be supported by the terrain that it is to rest on, or for whatever other reason, it cannot be used.
Base Cost: 1 sp
Cost/Use: Varies dependent upon cost of dropped item.

Needle Pit: A needle pit is a hastily dug hole, only 6 to 12 inches deep and about as wide, concealed with weeds or something else, and hiding an upturned caltrop, crossbow bolt, knife blade, or any other pointy object at the bottom. Any creature of small to large size stepping in the trapped square must resist a trip attempt (DC equal to 1/2 your Craft (trapmaking) check result) or fall prone and take 1 point of piercing damage, along with any enhancements the pointed object might have. The creature’s speed is reduced by one-half because its foot is wounded. This movement penalty lasts for 24 hours, or until the creature is successfully treated with a Heal check (DC equals 1/2 your Craft (trapmaking) check result), or until it receives at least 1 point of magical curing. A charging or running creature must immediately stop if it steps in a needle pit. In sand, soft soil, grass, or other pliable surfaces, a suitable hole can be dug and prepared as part of the full round preparation time. In hard-packed earth or loose stone, it takes one minute. In solid rock, worked stone floors, and other surfaces, a suitable hole cannot be created as a hasty booby trap, and must be found (preferably in an advantageous position), and it takes a full round to prepare the hole. Making a needle pit for a larger creature doubles the cost in time and gold for every size above medium. Needle pits do not work for tiny and smaller creatures.
Base Cost: 1 sp


Scything Blade Trap: This trap utilizes an extremely flexible polearm that is secured to a wall, floor, or other surface at the end of the shaft, then bent back nearly double and tied off out of sight of the tripwire. When triggered, the polearm uncurls in a wicked arc, scything through one 5-foot square per trapsmith level (chosen at the time of creation), attacking any creatures or objects in both squares (if a large creature is in both squares, it is attacked twice) with a bonus equal to any enhancement bonus of the polearm, and 1/2 of your Craft check result. The polearm deals standard damage dependent upon its type, including any enhancements.
Base Cost: 1 gp plus the cost of polearm (1 gp for shortspear, 5 gp for longspear, 8 gp for glaive, 10 gp for halberd, etc; and +300 gp for a masterwork polearm; any nonmasterwork polearm will break on a Craft (trapmaking) check or attack roll that results in a natural 1, as only the finest weapons are flexible enough to be used multiple times).


Snare Trap: A snare trap is a simple noose that is attached to a bent sapling, weighted rod, secured pulley system, or some other device capable of hoisting a creature into the air. Normal snare traps can affect only creatures of tiny, small, or medium sized. Anyone that triggers a snare trap must make a successful Reflex save (DC equal to 1/2 your Craft (trapmaking) check result), or be hoisted into the air by one limb. A creature successfully caught in a snare trap is held immobile 5 feet above the ground. You can increase the height at which the creature is held above the ground by increasing the Craft (trapmaking) DC by +5 and the cost/use by 1 sp for every 5 feet of added height, assuming that the surrounding setting provides tall enough trees, dungeon walls, etc. Creatures of diminutive size and smaller can be targeted with special traps that increase the base price by 5 gp. Similarly, creatures of large size or larger can be targeted by a snare trap, assuming that a stout enough support for bigger creatures can be found at hand, by increasing the base cost by 10 gp, and increasing the preparation time by one full round for every size larger than medium.
Base Cost: 15 gp

Trip Rope Trap: This trap is made of a strong rope attached tautly between two points. If anyone tries to cross the rope, it makes a trip attempt with a bonus equal to 1/2 your Craft (trapmaking) check result. The trap can trip as many individuals as pass through it and unsuccessfully resist the trip attempt, but every time a creature is tripped, it causes the rope to go slack just a bit, and the trap takes a cumulative -2 penalty to future trip attempts. When the trap finally has a +0 trip modifier, it must be reset before the it can be used again. The trap can cover a line of up to 20 feet.
Base Cost: 10 gp

Wall Spikes: A wall spike is a strip of spikes, a row of caltrops, or some other series of spines or spikes secured strategically along the hand and footholds of a wall, a tree, or anything else that would likely be climbed. Any surface set with wall spikes requires double the time to climb through (1/8 base speed) and has the DC of any Climb checks increases to 1/2 your Craft (trapmaking) check result, though if the Climb DC was already higher than this, it stays the same (wall spikes cannot affect a climbing surface with a DC less than 15, because hand and footholds are too abundant and large to adequately trap). Further, the trap gets an attack (bonus equal to 1/2 Craft (trapmaking) check result, and dealing 1 piercing damage) against a creature in a trapped square for every Climb check made. A Climb check that indicates no progress (failing by 4 or less), the climber suffers 1 more point of piercing damage and must make a Reflex save (same DC) or fall.
Base Cost: 1 gp


[COLOR="darkred"]Wolf Den: A wolf den is a large, deep version of a needle pit, filled with numerous spear points or other long piercing weapons. Any creature of tiny to medium size stepping in the trapped square must resist a trip attempt (DC equal to 1/2 your Craft (trapmaking) check result) or fall through and land prone, taking 1d6 points of piercing damage per trapsmith level for every full round spent in trap preparation (including the time spent digging or repairing the hole, if any; maximum 10d6 damage), along with any enhancements the pointed objects might have (assume that tiny creatures can be pierced by 1d4 stakes, medium creatures by 2d4, large creatures by 3d4, etc, for purposes of figuring out secondary effects such as poison or magic enhancements). Further, a creature that takes piercing damage from a wolf den needs to make a grapple check against the same DC, or be pinned. As a full round act, a creature caught in this pin can make a grapple or Escape Artist check (same DC) in order to extract itself from the piercing weapons, but in so doing takes damage equal to the initial piercing damage that the trap dealt. A charging or running creature must immediately stop if it crosses a square with a wolf den, even if it successfully resists the trip attempt. Assuming access is had to a shovel, in sand, soft soil, grass, or other pliable surfaces, a suitable hole can be dug in half an hour. In hard-packed earth or loose stone, it takes one hour and access to a rock pick and a shovel. In solid rock, worked stone floors, and other surfaces, it is impossible to create a suitable hole with normal means, though if one can be found in the right position, it can be used. Making a wolf den for a large or larger creature doubles the cost in time and gold for every size above medium. Wolf dens do not work for creatures of smaller than tiny size.
Base Cost: 8 gp


Advanced Booby Traps

An advanced booby trap requires an extra minute of trap preparation in order to set up. The Craft (trapmaking) check of an advanced booby trap template has a higher DC depending on the trap in question, and may have individual cost requirements on top of those of the original trap. Further, certain advanced booby traps can only be applied to specific kinds of traps, as noted below. Only one advanced booby trap template can be applied to a trap at any one time, except where noted otherwise.

Advanced booby traps need to be designed and heavily tested well before ever being applied to a hasty trap, and many trapsmiths carry the advanced systems pre-assembled when they can.

Blackjack Trap: A blackjack trap marks the pinnacle of the trapmaking arts, achieved by only the best, and the luckiest, of trapsmiths. Some of the most legendary and infamous traps ever made were blackjack traps, and had whole tomes written about them by scholars attempting to unlock their secrets.
A blackjack trap combines any two other advanced booby trap templates (referred to as secondary traps) together on one base trap. Both secondary traps must be of types appropriate to the base trap. Similarly, if one of the secondary traps applied is the rapidfire trap (allowing two base traps), then the other secondary trap must be of a type appropriate to both base traps. There is no known method by which a blackjack trap can be used to combine secondary blackjack trap with other traps.
Trap Type: Any
Craft (trapmaking) Check: The combined DC modifier of both advanced booby trap templates, with an added +10 (to a minimum of +20 total)
Base Cost: Multiply the base cost of the trap by 2.5
Weight: The combined weight of the base trap, plus both advanced booby trap templates.

Bleeder Trap: A bleeder trap consists of any kind of trap that does slashing damage that is designed to open irregular, gaping wounds, either through nonuniform movement, multiple blades, or some other method.
Targets hit by this trap take an additional 1d6 points of slashing damage per trapsmith level, are sickened for one round per trapsmith level, and then take 1 slashing damage per trapsmith level every round after that until the end of the encounter, or until a successful Healing check (DC equals 1/4 your Craft (trapmaking) check result) has been performed on the victim, or the victim has received any healing magic. Cumulative successful attacks by bleeder traps produce cumulative damage every round. Creatures that are immune to critical hits do not take damage in the following rounds from this trap.
Trap Type: Any trap that deals slashing damage
Craft (trapmaking) Check: +5 DC
Base Cost: +25% cost of base trap
Weight: 5 lbs

Bonecrusher Trap: A bonecrusher trap pulverizes its targets into oblivion. It uses weights and pulley systems or various other methods in order to propel its ammunition onto its targets.
Anything hit by a bonecrusher trap takes an extra 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage per trapsmith level, and loses 1 point of hardness of damage reduction per trapsmith level. Targets without either damage reduction or hardness take double the amount of extra bludgeoning damage. Cumulative successful attacks by bonecrusher traps produce cumulative penalties to hardness and damage reduction. Damage reduction will be regained at the end of the encounter, but that can be sped up with a heal spell, or a limited wish or higher spell, or a Heal check (DC equal to 1/2 your Craft (trapmaking) check result). Lost points of hardness will not be restored unless fixed, but a Craft check of the appropriate kind at the same DC will restore it fully.
Trap Type: Any trap that deals bludgeoning damage
Craft (trapmaking) Check: +5 DC
Base Cost: +25% cost of base trap driving
Weight: 15 lbs

Bursting Trap: A bursting trap utilizes fine alchemical explosives, large quantities of propellant, and other methods to ensure that it detonates with such violence that it forcefully picks up and hurls anything within its area that is not bolted to the ground.
Any object or creature that is within the area of effect of the bursting trap and takes damage from it takes an extra 1d6 points of damage per trapsmith level (damage of the same type inflicted by the base trap), and must make a Reflex save (DC equals 1/2 your Craft (trapmaking) check result) or be ejected to the nearest square outside of the trap's area of effect. Any creature moved in this manner takes an additional 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage per 10 feet moved (no additional damage if moved less than 10 feet) and is knocked prone. If an obstacle prevents a blasted creature or object from being moved to the closest edge of the effect, both of them take 1d6 damage upon collision, as well as any damage inflicted because of distance moved before the collision, and fall prone at that point. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Trap Type: Any trap that allows a Reflex save and does hit point damage of some sort within an area effect (burst, cone, cylinder or line).
Craft (trapmaking) Check: +15 DC
Base Cost: +500 gp
Weight: 5 lbs

Crackajack Trap: A crackajack trap is simply a trap of any kind that is expertly done, an example of perfection in application.
A crackajack trap receives a bonus equal to your trapsmith level x2 (maximum +10) to any attacks (including trips and other combat maneuvers), Disable Device and Search check DCs, and saving throw DCs.
Trap Type: Any
Craft (trapmaking) Check: +15 DC
Base Cost: –
Weight: –

Lancer Trap: A lancer trap utilizes control ropes or cables attached to a nasty assortment of barbed projectiles, spears, or other piercing weapons, in order to skewer and hold a victim.
Targets of a lancer trap take an extra 1d6 piercing damage per trapsmith level upon being struck by the trap, and are then considered entangled unless they make a Reflex save (DC equal to 1/2 your Craft (trapmaking) check result). A creature entangled by a lancer trap cannot cast a spell without first succeeding on a Concentration check (DC equal to 1/2 your Craft (trapmaking) check result). Further, a creature entangled on a lancer trap cannot move more than 10 feet away from the trap without first spending a full round act to pull itself with both hands off of the barbed piercing weapon or weapons. Alternatively, the full round act can be used to attempt a Strength check (DC equal to 1/4 your Craft (trapmaking) check result) in order to break the trap itself and allow it to move freely, though this means that it will have to remove the piercing weapon or weapons from its body at a later time using the method described above. Whether an entangled creature is successful or not in any of these attempts, it takes damage equal to the initial piercing damage that the trap dealt. A creature that succeeds on a Heal check (same DC equal to 1/2 your Craft (trapmaking) check result) can extract itself or another from the trap without dealing initial piercing damage again.
If the trap already had the ability to entangle its targets through use of a piercing attack (such as with a harpoon), then it now gains a bonus to all saving throw and skill check DCs equal to your trapsmith level.
Trap Type: Any trap that deals piercing damage
Craft (trapmaking) Check: +5 DC
Base Cost: +25% cost of base trap
Weight: 10 lbs

Meteor Trap: A meteor trap is designed to hit hard––so hard its victims likely won't remember anything even if they survive. This kind of power is only possible by using more complex designs and stronger materials (using wire cable instead of rope; steel bars instead of wooden poles; more complex alchemical fires; elaborate schematics that hurl stones downward instead of merely dropping them; etc), inevitably costing more time and money.
A meteor trap has to be strung tighter, bent farther, buried deeper and suspended higher. But any creature that is hit by a meteor trap takes an extra 1d6 points of damage per trapsmith level, of the same type dealt by the base trap, and must make a Fort save or be stunned or dazed (chosen at the time of creation by the trapsmith) for 1d4 rounds. If a natural 1 is rolled on this save, they take nonlethal damage equal to their current hit point total +1, and are knocked unconscious for the remainder of the encounter (creatures immune to nonlethal damage suffer no further effects on a natural 1), after which the nonlethal damage disappears.
Trap Type: A stunning trap can only be applied to a trap that deals hit point damage.
Craft (trapmaking) Check: +10 DC
Base Cost: +500 gp
Weight: 15 lbs

Quicksilver Trap: A quicksilver trap is made to be too explosively fast for a target to evade, and too hard-hitting for it to simply grit its teeth and endure.
The effects of a quicksilver trap are unhindered by a target's Evasion, Improved Evasion, Mettle, Improved Mettle, or similar abilities.
Trap Type: Any trap that requires a saving throw for reduced effect
Craft (trapmaking) Check: +10 DC
Base Cost: +50% of cost of base trap
Weight: –

Rapidfire Trap: A rapidfire trap is a clever method of splicing two booby traps together so that both traps take effect within a fraction of a moment of each other, overwhelming their targets.
Upon preparing the traps, the trapsmith designates which trap will lead, and which will follow, and if a target is successfully hit by the lead trap, it suffers a -4 penalty to AC and/or saving throws against the following trap. A rapidfire trap takes one minute and 30 seconds (15 rounds) to prepare.
Trap Type: Any
Craft (trapmaking) Check: Use the trap with the highest DC +15
Base Cost: Multiply the combined base cost of both traps by 1.5
Weight: The combined weight of both traps

Scouring Trap: ?
?
Trap Type: Any trap that deals energy damage of some sort
Craft (trapmaking) Check: +? DC
Base Cost: ?
Weight: ?

Stycotl
2011-01-04, 10:47 AM
Balance

so, what do you guys think?

overall, the trapsmith always seemed like a potentially cool class, but the consensus that i've seen is that it was just executed in a ho-hum manner. in particular, booby traps have always seemed weak to me, and not worth the effort to create them, even though they are the main component of the class.

i think most people that take the class nowadays do so just to get haste as a 1st level spell, and i've been thinking of getting rid of that get-spells-early mechanic alltogether and just giving it 5 levels of bard spellcasting from a specialized list.

specific balance points:

save DC and trap attack rating: current is 1/2 of craft (trapmaking) check result

trap damage: base trap damage + advanced trap damage + sneak attack + misc (poisons, alchemicals, etc)

spell list: significantly increased the spell list, including giving it a 0th-level spell progression in order to benefit from a few of the slick detect spells, and other gems like prestidigtation, and others.

comprehensive changes:

i combined the advanced versions into the simple booby traps (and in some places made those stronger too), and then made a list of trap templates that could be added on to the existing, heftier simple traps. then i made so that in order to use the templates, you'd have to spend an extra minute of trap preparation. this allows the normal advanced versions to be used right off the bat as hastily made booby traps, and allows more powerful, more varied trap effects to those that can set an ambush in advance.

some of the advanced booby traps made the save DCs equal to your craft check, but with how easy it is to boost skill checks, it kept them all at the simple traps' 1/2 craft check. however, i might be playing too much to an optimized crowd, and maybe i ought to keep save DCs equal to the full craft check. or maybe 10+1/2 craft check or something. i dunno...

also, the power levels of the different traps varies considerably. this isn't necessarily a bad thing since they all do different things, but perhaps some of them are overboard (drop trap and wolf den maybe...).

i added a sneak attack progression to the class, but didn't make sneak attack a prerequisite. thus, if a rogue enters the class, he's not screwing over his progression, but if someone else enters it, they get a +2d6 added bonus. and then on top of that, i also created an ability that allows sneak attack damage to apply to the traps you create in order to further reward the effort taken to create traps.

i considered upping the DR to 10/– at 4th level, but i cut it because it thought it was too heavy.

avoid disaster was also originally bumped up to 1/encounter, but that also seemed high, especially since one trap generally will equal one encounter.

Benly
2011-01-04, 11:20 AM
One thing I've done with trapsmiths in the past (much more minor than your total overhaul) is adding advanced versions of the CR 1/2 booby traps from DMG2 to their trap list. The swinging weight/bull rush trap and the disarm trap are both pretty handy additions, and you might want some version of them on the list.

(Granted, that's partly because I like using the bull rush trap to set up Rube Goldberg trap combos. But even without that, a swinging weight trap next to a pit or lava or other dungeon hazard is quite nice.)

Stycotl
2011-01-04, 12:06 PM
One thing I've done with trapsmiths in the past (much more minor than your total overhaul) is adding advanced versions of the CR 1/2 booby traps from DMG2 to their trap list. The swinging weight/bull rush trap and the disarm trap are both pretty handy additions, and you might want some version of them on the list.

(Granted, that's partly because I like using the bull rush trap to set up Rube Goldberg trap combos. But even without that, a swinging weight trap next to a pit or lava or other dungeon hazard is quite nice.)

yeah. i was actually going to put those in here before i posted, but i forgot all about it. i'll get on that shortly.

any ideas about the balance of the existing features?

Benly
2011-01-04, 12:31 PM
yeah. i was actually going to put those in here before i posted, but i forgot all about it. i'll get on that shortly.

any ideas about the balance of the existing features?

I'm not a big fan of your expanded spell list. I actually liked that the trapsmith spell list didn't really have much if anything in the way of magical "trap" spells on it (glyphs and so on) and instead focused on spells that either helped you counter existing traps or helped you construct mundane traps. The thing is that you'll never be as good as a wizard at making spell traps (short of making trapsmith a full-on caster PrC, which doesn't seem like a good idea to me), so trying to pile on glyphs of warding and explosive runes and so on to the list seems to be barking up the wrong tree, and they don't let you take advantage of your actual Trapmaking skill. Instead you have spells like Wall of Stone, Stone Shape, and the all-important Fabricate which actually make it practical to use Craft: Trapmaking to create serious traps in the field which your booby-traps can complement.

Some of the spells on your expanded list are fine. Magecraft, Instant Locksmith/Instant Search, Minor Creation and so on all play to your strength as an actual crafter of traps. I really don't like giving the trapsmith so many "cast a spell, here's a land mine, no skill involved" spells.

I like the souped-up booby traps, generally speaking, but some of the pricings seem odd. Why does the Scything Blade trap have a per-use cost when the Bolt Trap doesn't? Why does the Wolf Den have a per-use cost and the Needle Pit doesn't? It seems to me like per-use costs should be for traps that actually launch something or deplete some resource. (For the Snare Trap oddly I don't mind it; to me it seems like having to cut the victim loose and replace the noose before it can be reused makes some sense.)

Stycotl
2011-01-04, 12:50 PM
I'm not a big fan of your expanded spell list. I actually liked that the trapsmith spell list didn't really have much if anything in the way of magical "trap" spells on it (glyphs and so on) and instead focused on spells that either helped you counter existing traps or helped you construct mundane traps. The thing is that you'll never be as good as a wizard at making spell traps (short of making trapsmith a full-on caster PrC, which doesn't seem like a good idea to me), so trying to pile on glyphs of warding and explosive runes and so on to the list seems to be barking up the wrong tree, and they don't let you take advantage of your actual Trapmaking skill. Instead you have spells like Wall of Stone, Stone Shape, and the all-important Fabricate which actually make it practical to use Craft: Trapmaking to create serious traps in the field which your booby-traps can complement.

Some of the spells on your expanded list are fine. Magecraft, Instant Locksmith/Instant Search, Minor Creation and so on all play to your strength as an actual crafter of traps. I really don't like giving the trapsmith so many "cast a spell, here's a land mine, no skill involved" spells.

good point. one of the reasons that i haven't actually incorporated the spell additions into the normal list is that i'm not set on which ones to introduce yet. so far i have just made a list of all of them that could be useful.

though i can see your point, and like the idea to some extent of the trapsmith using only mechanical traps, the trap-like spells are very handy to him. and they do now use his craft skill, in that at higher level, he can apply advanced booby trap templates to any trap he creates, including trap-like spells.

trap-like spells also offer him the advantage of being able to set ambushes even when his supply of parts has been exhausted. however, something i hadn't thought of until you brought this up is that he still needs material requirements. but maybe i could give him a situational eschew material components feat that only applies to trap-like spells.


I like the souped-up booby traps, generally speaking, but some of the pricings seem odd. Why does the Scything Blade trap have a per-use cost when the Bolt Trap doesn't? Why does the Wolf Den have a per-use cost and the Needle Pit doesn't? It seems to me like per-use costs should be for traps that actually launch something or deplete some resource. (For the Snare Trap oddly I don't mind it; to me it seems like having to cut the victim loose and replace the noose before it can be reused makes some sense.)

i didn't really mess with the base cost and cost per use of the preexisting booby traps. i think i left all of them as they were in the book. but as long as i am fixing things, i might as well fix that.

my justification for adding cost/use to some of the ones i created is that as i was trying to imagine the traps in my head, a lot of rope cutting and wire twisting and pole-breaking and so on was needed. so some of the parts would be reusable, and others wouldn't. maybe each trap should have a slight cost/use to it.

EDIT: oh yeah, and you mentioned trap combos in your first post. that was a primary reason why i included rapidfire traps and blackjack traps in the advanced templates. now it is even easier and quicker to create a hella-nasty combo. i'm not positive, but i think that these class features help to close the gap on full casters being better trappers than skillmonkeys.

Benly
2011-01-04, 01:14 PM
though i can see your point, and like the idea to some extent of the trapsmith using only mechanical traps, the trap-like spells are very handy to him. and they do now use his craft skill, in that at higher level, he can apply advanced booby trap templates to any trap he creates, including trap-like spells.

trap-like spells also offer him the advantage of being able to set ambushes even when his supply of parts has been exhausted. however, something i hadn't thought of until you brought this up is that he still needs material requirements. but maybe i could give him a situational eschew material components feat that only applies to trap-like spells.


They just seem really thematically inappropriate. Anyone can slap down a Glyph of Warding. The trapsmith is a craftsman and an artist. Explosive Runes isn't trapsmithing, it's just a spell that doesn't go off immediately.
As for running out of materials, it's not really a problem with Fabricate. Grab the swords off the minions you defeat, then Fabricate them and the surrounding stone (in a dungeon, or wood in a forest, or whatever is at hand) into a Whirling Scythe Of Murderdeath Trap. Fabricate is an extremely powerful spell with someone who actually has a versatile crafting skill to leverage and I feel it's a mandatory pick for Trapsmiths. As long as you have it, you can afford to improvise.

Come to think of it, you could achieve the same quality of power-up by stripping all the glyph of warding-type "land mine" spells out of that list and just making Fabricate a lower-level spell for trapsmiths so they can cast it earlier and more often. For a trapsmith, Fabricate is just plain better and more flavorful than Glyph Of Exploding.





my justification for adding cost/use to some of the ones i created is that as i was trying to imagine the traps in my head, a lot of rope cutting and wire twisting and pole-breaking and so on was needed. so some of the parts would be reusable, and others wouldn't. maybe each trap should have a slight cost/use to it.


The thing is, we don't apply a per-hit maintenance cost to a sword and not even to most of a wizard's spells. You're already paying to put the trap into place to begin with, and unlike normal equipment you can't pick it up and move it around later. Whenever you think about pricing one of these, remember that a wizard is casting Explosive Runes for free and, unlike your "real" traps, the booby traps aren't getting that much bang for the buck. I really feel that booby traps should err on the side of inexpensiveness.



EDIT: oh yeah, and you mentioned trap combos in your first post. that was a primary reason why i included rapidfire traps and blackjack traps in the advanced templates. now it is even easier and quicker to create a hella-nasty combo. i'm not positive, but i think that these class features help to close the gap on full casters being better trappers than skillmonkeys.

To be honest, a trapsmith who actually leverages the options available is already a better trapper than a wizard who hasn't put the effort into it. The quality of "real" traps scales with Craft DC and vice versa, so the wizard can't just cast Magecraft, take 10 and call it a day (like he can with craft skills that top out at DC 20 or 25). A trapsmith using Fabricate can throw together ridiculous deathtraps that a wizard without real skill ranks can't match.

That said, I love easy-to-use trap combos, so that's good with me. :smallsmile:

ErrantX
2011-01-04, 02:11 PM
Spells Known
{table=head]Level|1st|2nd|3rd
1st|2|-|-
2nd|3|-|-
3rd|3|2|-
4th|4|3|-
5th|4|3|2[/table]

Spells Per Day
{table=head]Level|1st|2nd|3rd
1st|1|-|-
2nd|2|-|-
3rd|2|1|-
4th|3|2|-
5th|3|2|1[/table]


Here is your fixed tables. Just remove the noparse tags.

-X

Stycotl
2011-01-04, 05:17 PM
They just seem really thematically inappropriate. Anyone can slap down a Glyph of Warding. The trapsmith is a craftsman and an artist. Explosive Runes isn't trapsmithing, it's just a spell that doesn't go off immediately.
As for running out of materials, it's not really a problem with Fabricate. Grab the swords off the minions you defeat, then Fabricate them and the surrounding stone (in a dungeon, or wood in a forest, or whatever is at hand) into a Whirling Scythe Of Murderdeath Trap. Fabricate is an extremely powerful spell with someone who actually has a versatile crafting skill to leverage and I feel it's a mandatory pick for Trapsmiths. As long as you have it, you can afford to improvise.

Come to think of it, you could achieve the same quality of power-up by stripping all the glyph of warding-type "land mine" spells out of that list and just making Fabricate a lower-level spell for trapsmiths so they can cast it earlier and more often. For a trapsmith, Fabricate is just plain better and more flavorful than Glyph Of Exploding.

ok, you've sold me. all trap-like spells are getting the boot.


The thing is, we don't apply a per-hit maintenance cost to a sword and not even to most of a wizard's spells. You're already paying to put the trap into place to begin with, and unlike normal equipment you can't pick it up and move it around later. Whenever you think about pricing one of these, remember that a wizard is casting Explosive Runes for free and, unlike your "real" traps, the booby traps aren't getting that much bang for the buck. I really feel that booby traps should err on the side of inexpensiveness.

i don't mind getting rid of cost/use completely. i just put it in there because it was in the base traps.


To be honest, a trapsmith who actually leverages the options available is already a better trapper than a wizard who hasn't put the effort into it. The quality of "real" traps scales with Craft DC and vice versa, so the wizard can't just cast Magecraft, take 10 and call it a day (like he can with craft skills that top out at DC 20 or 25). A trapsmith using Fabricate can throw together ridiculous deathtraps that a wizard without real skill ranks can't match.

That said, I love easy-to-use trap combos, so that's good with me. :smallsmile:

i somewhat agree with that; the problem that i see is that it takes a trapsmith years to do what a wizard does in rounds. plus, the wizard eventually gets uber traps with all sorts of magical effects that the trapsmith can't duplicate.

however, keeping the DC of the booby traps at 1/2 craft check results is pretty decent, i think. craft checks can be boosted pretty high



Spells Known
{table=head]Level|1st|2nd|3rd
1st|2|-|-
2nd|3|-|-
3rd|3|2|-
4th|4|3|-
5th|4|3|2[/table]

Spells Per Day
{table=head]Level|1st|2nd|3rd
1st|1|-|-
2nd|2|-|-
3rd|2|1|-
4th|3|2|-
5th|3|2|1[/table]


Here is your fixed tables. Just remove the noparse tags.

-X

sweet. thanks, errant. i forgot about the {table=head] table, since i usually just use the {table] one, since it formats better when i copy/paste stuff into a word document.

will edit class in a bit.

Benly
2011-01-04, 07:56 PM
i somewhat agree with that; the problem that i see is that it takes a trapsmith years to do what a wizard does in rounds. plus, the wizard eventually gets uber traps with all sorts of magical effects that the trapsmith can't duplicate.

The trapsmith does it in rounds, too. As I said, I consider Fabricate to be mandatory for the prestige class. As in, to the point where I would seriously support making it a bonus spell known or a forced spell known just so people can't accidentally screw themselves out of being able to actually use Craft: Trapmaking in a reasonable timeframe.

As for the wizard's uber traps, the problem is that when you get right down to it, they're not traps. They're magic items that fire themselves, and ultimately the problem is with magic and magic items consistently dominating everything. There's no way to make the trapsmith good at that end of things without making it a full-on caster class, so leave that to the wizards and excel at what you can do. Giving the trapsmith landmine spells wouldn't address that imbalance.

Stycotl
2011-01-08, 03:44 PM
ok. spell list has been weeded out, and the cost/use of the basic booby traps has been virtually eliminated, excepting one or two specific cases.

the biggest change was that i gave it a 0th-level spell progression, which is not generally in line with classes that get less than 6th level spells. but i felt that it was needed in order to take advantage of the many 0th level spells out there that are perfect for this class, without having to make them 1st level spells (as i had been doing earlier).

i still feel that getting rid of all of the trap-like spells (glyph of warding, explosive runes, skull trap, etc) takes him back under the power benchmark that i'd been aiming for, though i like the fluff reasons for taking them all out and having him primarily rely on his own, hand-made (or fabricate-made) traps.

so if anyone has any suggestions for other ways to increase his power (preferably through utility) then i am all ears.