Simple trap ideas

[ericgrau]

I'm making a kobold mine and I have some basic traps and the sample traps but I could use some more simple but annoying traps to fill the mine with. Besides caverns there are also living spaces within the mines with normal rooms.

Say... within the next hour or two. Trying to finish up but trying to think of some new ideas instead of doing a bunch of repeat traps.

[gfishfunk]

A bunch of repeat traps are the best.

Give the players a chance to figure out how the traps work, what kind of traps are there, and then start changing up the way that use use them.

Swinging Wall Trap: a ten by ten foot wall opens on a hinge, knocking the player back and dealing 2d4 bludgeoning damage. The PC gets a DC13 (or whatever save) to move out of the way.
- Put it down 10' wide corridors, at corners of the same corridor, and on the side of large rooms
- Hide doors behind the hinge

Tumble Traps: Half of the floor gives way in a 10' by 10' - just half, creating a 45' degree ramp that tumbles the adventurer down the ramp. When the adventurer tumbles down the ramp, it falls into the back wall, which has tons of spikes. The PC gets a DC13 (or whatever save) to stop their fall on the ramp.
- Put it down 10' wide corridors, under hinge traps, and rows of them along one side of a room.
- Hide doors on the inside, down the ramp.

Combine the two. Put the Swinging Wall Trap and the Tumble Trap together, so that when adventurers try to get past the Swinging Wall Trap after timing it, they set off the Tumble Trap

[ericgrau]

Thanks I'll keep that in mind in case I want to change something up. Heading out now. I think I have a reasonable setup, but we'll see.

[JackPhoenix]

Use the advantage of kobold size and weight: tunnels too small for medium creatures to fight in, pits that won't open under ~30-40 lb kobold, tripwires set too high for a kobold to trigger, but that would force their enemies to get prone to crawl under them, all that can be used in combat, not just as a stand-alone trap.

Traps that set dangerous vermin on enemies... dropped wasp nest, urns filled with venomous centipedes/spiders give party something to deal with if they trigger it besides "you take x damage from a trap"

Hallway or tunnel covered with caltrops and oil. You'll have to avoid both both caltrops and slipping on the floor, falling onto them for extra damage. Bonus points for dropping portculli on both ends of the hallway, trapping the intruders in, and setting the oil on fire, while kobolds shoot at the trapped enemies with crossbows.

Kobolds worship dragons: give them a statue of a dragon, when someone steps in front of it, it breathes fire, either through magic or through some alchemist compound. Won't hit those who drops on their knees and bows, especially if they are kobold-sized. Great for shrine area.

edit: ah, dammit, guess I should've typed faster

[JellyPooga]

Use the advantage of kobold size and weight: tunnels too small for medium creatures to fight in, pits that won't open under ~30-40 lb kobold, tripwires set too high for a kobold to trigger, but that would force their enemies to get prone to crawl under them, all that can be used in combat, not just as a stand-alone trap.

This is a great approach to take, especially if the party scout is a gnome or halfling who also won't trigger the trap. Imagine pursuing a bunch of fleeing kobolds only to fall straight into an otherwise easy to spot trap and then suffer a barrage of crossbow bolts as you try to extricate yourself, then have the kobolds escape through tunnels the PC's can't follow down. Truly one should never invade a kobold stronghold.

Another twist would be to have the kobolds be friendly at first, leading the PC's through their trap infested lair, disarming all the traps on the way in (innocuously, of course), then having the kobolds turn sour, forcing the PC's to try and remeber where all the traps are on the way out. Sort of a memory puzzle for the players. Could be fun.