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DontEatRawHagis
2011-03-03, 02:42 PM
I'm doing a one shot and need ideas for traps in the forest that the PCs will be going through. The main villains will be Druids(don't ask) so I was trying to think of what traps might work and what wont.

The PCs will travel from the main village to another village then to the Druid Glade. Going to the glade is the only point that they might encounter anything like a dungeon/mine tunnel.

Psyborg
2011-03-03, 03:16 PM
*shudder* Four Wood Elf Warrior 1s with composite longbows should be able to TPK any low-level party quite handily.

If you want more than that, we'll need to know your party's effective character level (and preferably size and composition).

The_Jackal
2011-03-03, 03:28 PM
Fighting druids in the woods is basically suicide, if the Druids are played cagily enough. What's the party level? If they're low level, try this: an ambush at night, the party is lit up with fairie fire, surrounded by entangles and peppered with sling stones, or longbow fire if the druids are also elves. Characters with night vision would be priority targets, as would healers. If any of the party is strong enough to wade through the entangles to break out of the killzone, the druids can simply fade into the night, to rinse/repeat later the same evening, or on a subsequent night.

If the druids are higher in level, the evil (or neutral, I guess) compounds. Dodging flaming spheres and summoned beasts, as well as any indigenous fauna they've recruited to their cause, courtesy of wild empathy. Higher still, ice and lightning storms take the place of sling/arrow fire, and summoned animals are also enhanced with animal growth.

If the druids are also in their home territory, even the ground can be an enemy. If the terrain is a bog, they can use their knowledge of the area to know where it's safe to tread, and can also turn solid ground into muck with the 'transmute to mud' line of spells. This in addition to the usual deadfalls and hidden spike traps that an ordinary hunter could set in their paths.

Deathslayer7
2011-03-03, 03:28 PM
you could do pit traps, snare traps, even logs that come from the side of the forest (if they are on a trail) that crush or hit the player for some sort of damage, and basic arrow traps that fire only once at a specific spot.

IthroZada
2011-03-03, 03:33 PM
Ewoks everywhere.

hydraa
2011-03-03, 03:38 PM
You can have various traps that have been left by various hunter groups so there are not associated to the druids.

Snares, cover pit (spiked), trip wire cage.

If you want a trap that are not traps (sensible) then use a sinkhole and have the trees fall in and pummel or trap the creatures in the sinkhole.
A beaver is cutting down a tree and it falls into the party

Are they walking or using wheeled transport. You can have a tree fall in front and behind the wagon.

Also you could have traps that were actually set by a third party for the druids to trip that the party trips inadvertantly.

You could also have a trap that does some kind of blight (spell or a blighter special ability) the will alert the druids that something is afoot

BRC
2011-03-03, 03:41 PM
The important thing to remember about Traps is that Traps alone are boring. The Wrong way to use a trap is as follows

DM: You enter a long corridor.
PC: I check for traps.
DM: You find a trap.
PC: I disarm it.
DM: You disarm the trap.

That is Boring. Traps are fun when used in conjunction with other things, when there is some pressure on the PC's, when they are sprung in the middle of combat, or when the PC's know that the traps are there, but are being chased by something big and angry, and need to choose between trying to disarm the trap while the Big Angry Thing catches up, or crossing their fingers and risking it.

Now, for your specific case.

Something as simple as a Tripline, when used in conjunction with an ambush, can be devastating. A few elven (or goblin, or whatever) warriors hiding in the bushes with a tripline stretched across the path. The PC's trip over it and get attacked.

a Pit trap, enemies show up and try to herd the PC's towards it.

A tree rigged to fall over can be used to crush PC's. A basket full of rocks up in the trees, a net rigged to fall onto a path.

JohnnyCancer
2011-03-03, 03:59 PM
I found a short article (with pictures!) of some traps used during the Vietnam War which could be applied and reflavored as necessary: http://www.5rar.asn.au/weapons/boobytraps.htm