DnD question inspired by first Resident Evil Movie

[Lockjaw]

So I was watching the first "Resident Evil" movie last night, and do you remember the scene where they're in this corridor, and it's a laser trap (the laser--I guess that's what it is--takes the form of the grid pattern and slices through people)? How would you replicate that in DnD terms? It's obviously a reflex save, but it seems to be a save-or-die situation. I don't seem to remember any really good reflex save spells--most of them are just blaster spells. In fact, I've always considered my reflex save my "dump save" (and if I have mind blank, my will save can be another "dump save").

Would the spell be something like, "You create a grid pattern of ultra-intense light, which rushes toward its target. If the target fails its reflex save, it is fubar-ed"?

If we had more spells like that, reflex saves would be a heck of a lot more important. Thoughts?

[Psyren]

You could use the "razor wire across hallway" (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/traps.htm#cr1RazorWireacrossHallway) trap, and buff it to represent "lasers" (e.g. make it out of force, or add fire damage) while simultaneously making it easier to see. Then have several of them move towards the players in sequence (trap encounter) with reflex saves, and finish up with a nearly-inescapable "lattice" configuration, involving several of them in one square with a much higher DC. Finish up by having the whole trap reset.

In true Resident Evil fashion, the area beyond this trap should be in full-on Wightocalypse, with the trapped areas more designed to keep the monsters in than to keep intruders out.

[CTrees]

In true Resident Evil fashion, the area beyond this trap should be in full-on Wightocalypse, with the trapped areas more designed to keep the monsters in than to keep intruders out.


FYI, I love this sort of scenario (as a DM, at least).

Anyway, I'd run it the same way you suggested, Psyren. There's difficulty in how to replicate it precisely by the rules if you're super against homebrew, but... So what?

[Psyren]

You could even do an omnipresent "Red Queen" style monitoring intelligence. It could be a ghost haunting the entire dungeon instead of an AI, or something even more exotic - an Elder Brain/Brain in a Jar with scrying sensors everywhere, or even a benign Genius Loci.

[CTrees]

You could even do an omnipresent "Red Queen" style monitoring intelligence. It could be a ghost haunting the entire dungeon instead of an AI, or something even more exotic - an Elder Brain/Brain in a Jar with scrying sensors everywhere, or even a benign Genius Loci.

You could even have the entire dungeon be a ridiculously sized animated object/golem, given a programmed command set similar to what the Red Queen had. Rules could get a little finicky... maybe walls/partitions/furnishing added on later and inanimate? Whatever.