Question: Developing old-school D&D traps with a twist

[abcd_z]

I'm running a rules-lite system that doesn't have rules for perception checks. Instead of slapping together a house-rule for perception, I want to create traps that work with the limitation, and don't end up with the PCs poking at everything with a 10-foot pole.

Can you come up with any traps that may still be triggered by the PCs, even when the triggering mechanism is clearly visible? Examples that I've found so far:

Decorative spiderwebs made of gold. Unfortunately, they only LOOK gold, and any attempts to grab them will end with the PC stuck fast, while a giant spider closes in...

Several levers that do various things, one of which triggers the trap.

A statue with movable arms and two jars. Moving the statue's hand completes a circuit and does electrical damage to anybody touching the statue with bare hands, but it also unlocks a door. Full writeup at the bottom of the page here (http://odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=adventures&action=display&thread=198&page=2).

What else can you guys come up with?

[Sipex]

Why not try your hand at traps which are easy to see but hard to avoid?

For example, a hallway where the floor is coated with tiny holes where spikes pop out if you step on them. While the players will (likely) know what they are immediately upon seeing them, they still have to figure out a way to counteract the trap that isn't as simple as "Don't activate the trap"

[jackattack]

As Sipex says. Basically, an environment with a learning curve.

The floors in the dungeon have complicated designs with circles, triangles, squares, and pentagons. In the first room, stepping on circles triggers the trap. In the second room, stepping on triangles triggers the trap. Then squares, then pentagons. Or, the shape with the same number of sides as the room order of the dungeon is the safe spot. Either way, the players have to pick a shape to step on or avoid, and they have to make DEX rolls to succeed.

There's a set of grooves in the walls of a hallway, obviously tracks for blades. Straddling the hallway (one foot on each groove) let's the player avoid the floor, but if they slip they have to roll DEX to avoid being sliced in half. They get a +1 bonus for every X squares they get from the blades' starting point (it takes a tiny bit longer to reach the player).

Nozzles fill a passage with flammable gas. Any light spell gets around it, as does fumbling about in the dark. But so does putting a flaming arrow next to each nozzle -- instead of a big explosion when the gas reaches the party, each nozzle produces a small constant flame that the party has to duck through for minor damage.

A trap that goes off in a pattern that the players have to figure out, like the tunnel full of choppy-crushy things in Galaxy Quest or the waltz-darts in the first Librarian movie. INT rolls to match the pattern and avoid getting tagged.

Oh, and just to be mean... A polished marble floor covered with piranha beetles or flesh-devouring slime. Lay down a line of oil and light it, then run/slide along the burning path to get clear.

Hope these help.

[qwertyu63]

Just popping in with another example. Go (re?)watch The Pacifier. You'll know the scene.

EDIT: For those who haven't seen the movie:
Several times, there is a song used as a bedtime song to get one of the kids to fall asleep. It also acts as instructions to help past a barrage of traps. I'm trying to find clips, but...

Give your players the key as a poem or something early on, and see if they catch it.

[Jay R]

1. If they are old-school players, then a trap door in room A that is set off whenever somebody prods the floor of room B from room A.

2. When they step on a flagstone, it depresses a quarter-inch, and they hear a click. The trap goes off when they step off.

3. Same idea as 2, but instead of having to step on it, there is a pile of gold on the flagstone.

[Gamer Girl]

[QUOTE=abcd_z;14035041]

What else can you guys come up with?[/QUOTE


Well, if your doing an Old School type game it should not matter to much. The players would just accept the traps. Old School traps 'meat grinded' the characters.

You could describe each trapped area, but you'd also need to describe all areas, or the players will figure out that descriptions=traps.

[Talos]

kind of elaberate but i made a trap in a long hall way. The hall way was slightly uphill at the end of the hall was a door. The party moves down to the door without incedent. The door is locked and trapped. The trap is two fold. First trap lets loose a huge round rock like Indiana jones. 1d4 rounds to show up. giving the PC hope to open the door. describe the rock coming for them,finally it crashes down from the ceiling. the PCs should have gotten out of the way if not 10d10 damage from it crashing down. It should chase them back down the hall ( my hall was 120). when the ball hit the bottom of the hall way there was a massive crash. ( if the PC are smart Listen check to here several clicks and pops down the hall my DC was 28) when the go back down the hall they have been down twice( up and back) it will be full of traps because the huge rock has set them. ( think like a pinball plunger) then you can dink them back tothe door again with traps. I used needle traps with mild poisons pit traps dart traps . finally they opened the door at the end.

[Autolykos]

Don't let the traps sit there alone for the players to disable. Combine them with enemies. This makes them more dangerous in general, but doubly so if you can't hide the traps. Then the players will have to figure out how to get past them and at the enemies, try to find out how the enemies avoid triggering them, or just suck it up and lose battlefield control. The enemies should have ranged weapons (or at least long weapons like spears) to profit the most.
Just remember: An obstacle not covered by fire is not an obstacle.
If you're dead set on using the traps alone, have some of them trigger at obvious attempts to disable them, like cutting ropes, stuffing something into the holes in the wall, etc.
If your party is fond of bashing in chests, storing a few vials with poisonous gas (or liquids that form one when combined) in one of them might work wonders.