A good trap.

[Nibbens]

Recently, I've been preparing for a game where the PCs encounter a 120 foot long stone carving in draconic along a hallway which will introduce the name and a couple legends about the BBEG of my campaign. I want to include a trap that is thematically appropriate and will detonate as the character who is using linguistics to translate the legends (or whoever is using comprehend languages, etc etc) reads it.

I want it to be a statement about the power of the being that they will be fighting, etc etc. so I want it to be a "dire" effect.

The BBEG is a dragon demi-god. So when the players read the legends they get to his portion and they are hit with a spell that could possibly kill whoever is reading it, or at the very least - leave a lasting impression.

I have an idea that I was going to use, but I'm just not sure if I'm feeling it. My idea was: as soon he/she reaches the BBEG's legend, a Suffocation (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/s/suffocation) trap goes off - possibly killing - but more likely scaring the bejeebus out of the reader.

However, as I said, I just don't know if I'm feeling it.

Any suggestions for this DM?

[squab]

My first thought was explosions. Or, maybe triggers an illusion. They suddenly find themselves on a charred, open place. It's nighttime out, but there's plenty of red-orange sporadic light from a combination of fires and lava. They see a big dragon flying towards them but they can't run, dragon moves closer, is about to eat them and then they wake up. Preferably somewhere else. Feels kinda cliché but "dream/vision of BBEG being big, bad and evil" is a great way to introduce them.

Personally, I think a suffocation trap makes you scared on that hallway/ruin or whatever, rather then making them scared of BBEG.

[BilltheCynic]

If you want a particularly insidious trap, hand the player a notecard that reads something like this: "...and in that time the dragon rose to the status of a demi-god, cleansing the earth with the destructive power of his explosive rune. The land burned, the sea was aflame, etc etc..."

Of course, the carving doesn't say "explosive rune" that actually is an explosive rune, which naturally goes off as soon as it is read (or when the players pause when they realizes what it means). Naturally, the explosive rune will start a chain reaction that brings the entire place crumbling down, with the players still inside. For added fun, perhaps have this carving surrounded by several etches of various types of dragons. As soon as the trap triggers, the etched dragons pull themselves off the wall, turn into real dragons, and start attacking the players and trying to prevent them from escaping while the place comes down on top of them.

[NichG]

A trap should have a purpose, an intended outcome that somehow furthers the plans of the creators of the mural or the power behind it. From the point of view of a dragon god, is it to his benefit to kill someone who took the time and effort to painstakingly translate his legend, or would it be more appropriate to, for example, try to kill everyone who isn't reading it?

For old/sealed away gods, a favorite gimmick I like to use is that the reason they can be sealed away is a systematic suppression of almost all active faith in them. So what they do in advance is to seed the world with mysterious fragments of their legend, etc - things that make scholars want to know more. And once that emotional connection is formed, it provides enough of a glimmer of faith for the old god to reach out and either look upon the world, or touch it lightly. So the 'trap' could be that whomever translates the legend has a brief impression of eyes watching them from the darkness, a brief and intense feeling of personal empowerment, and a benevolent smile... followed by some sort of subtle 'blessing' from the dragon god (serpents bow in the character's presence, stuff like that) that serves to increase the character's belief that this entity is actively intervening in their life, and thereby provide an increasingly open window for the sealed god to work with.

If the deity isn't sealed, then replace 'blessing' with a constant sense of being watched, as if the dragon god is constantly scrying on the character during every waking moment. Don't confirm or deny too readily (as a consequence of deific ability to detect things within their domain, it need not manifest as an obvious magical effect), but you can play up things like the character 'suddenly feeling better' when they enter a place with a Nondetection or things like that.

[Nibbens]

From the point of view of a dragon god, is it to his benefit to kill someone who took the time and effort to painstakingly translate his legend, or would it be more appropriate to, for example, try to kill everyone who isn't reading it?

This is actually a really good idea - hit everyone else in the party with the spell, rather than the reader. An interesting concept, indeed. lol

[Segev]

Could do something like the cursed video in The Ring: if the goal is to spread his legend, afflict them with portents of doom as the dragon god's power swells around them in unfocused fury until they die...or they commission another copy of the legend and share it with somebody else, afflicting them with the same curse.

Geas would be a good mechanical way to go about it. First, gaes them to finish reading, then geas them to spread it to others.

[frost890]

When one of our players started to spam dispel magic our gm had a trap that dispel the wall of force holding the ceiling. Two walls came down locking us in the hall. There were also holes in the roof that let the lake above drain down on us. If you have it teleport him to a room that lets him see his friends die in the crying pool. The only way out of the room takes you to the surface where you can spread the story and the fear.

[Psyren]

When one of our players started to spam dispel magic our gm had a trap that dispel the wall of force holding the ceiling. Two walls came down locking us in the hall. There were also holes in the roof that let the lake above drain down on us. If you have it teleport him to a room that lets him see his friends die in the crying pool. The only way out of the room takes you to the surface where you can spread the story and the fear.

Wall of Force can't be dispelled, did he disintegrate or disjoin it instead?

[frost890]

Wall of Force can't be dispelled, did he disintegrate or disjoin it instead?

I don't remember. It has been a few years.

[The Insanity]

A good trap is one that you dont know is one until you look under the dress.