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dropbear8mybaby
2016-09-20, 05:18 PM
I'm not very good at coming up with or describing traps. I always fall into the trap (haha) of having them be very sudden "Oh look, you take damage," type of traps. But I want this tomb run to have some good, fun and descriptive traps that the players have to come up with ways of getting around/through. I'm imagining something along the lines of the Temple of the Sun in Indiana Jones where he has to solve a sort-of riddle to survive the traps like, "Only the penitent man shall pass."

The tomb is that of Thelgaar Ironhand of the Moonshae Isles (Cairn of Thelgaar Ironhand). He's not a figure with much history to him so there's not much to draw on which is both a boon and a bane. On the one hand it gives me a lot of freedom but on the other, very little inspiration.

I don't need there to be many traps/hazards/obstacles. I don't want the tomb to take more than about an hour of the session to get through. I just want to make it more interesting than, "Dex save, damage, OK next."

MrStabby
2016-09-20, 05:34 PM
Maybe some curses:

"you enter a long dusty passageway. On the wall on the right hand side is an inscription"

"I Read it"

"It says 'and so with each passing breath the withering cycle begins anew'; make a wisdom save"

"Fail - er, what happens?"

"You don't notice anything different"

Then over time as they delve deeper more and more bad things can happen. Clues can be found to cures or remedies, to provide some smaller mini quests within the tomb. Alternatively put a fountain in that removes the bad effects (but not the underlying curse) so they can reset their character but have to hurry back before they become too debilitated. Have the final cure actually be something easy - like standing in sunlight.


Alarm traps are good. The PCs can know they are in trouble but not yet what type (although maybe less appropriate for a tomb).

Any trap that splits the party. A collapsing floor, a sudden flood or anything to push some people to a different location. Even teleport traps work well. When you are strung out and get attacked but can't rely on your friends for support it adds a bit of extra drama.

Traps that do more than harm. Fireball traps might be an HP tax by themselves and be pretty dull, but if they are also healing Iron Golems then they are a bit more fun.

Strategic level traps. Things that block corridors, flood areas, close doors.

dropbear8mybaby
2016-09-20, 07:44 PM
Then over time as they delve deeper more and more bad things can happen.
Really don't want to have the tomb take long enough to expand on that.


Alarm traps are good. The PCs can know they are in trouble but not yet what type (although maybe less appropriate for a tomb).
That's still a "step on it, suffer consequence" rather than a puzzle/riddle trap to bypass.


Traps that do more than harm. Fireball traps might be an HP tax by themselves and be pretty dull, but if they are also healing Iron Golems then they are a bit more fun.
I like the concept of that, especially given that it's a tomb of a person called Ironhand. It's just that that then is really more a combat encounter than a trap with a means to bypass it with intelligent play.

EDIT: So I just checked out an Iron Golem. It was already well above the CR that the party could handle (5 level 8s, 5e) so combining it with fireballs would make it impossible. But it did give me what I think is a cool idea that I'll probably now use. Clues leading up to a final encounter where if they get the right answers, they get imbued with bonuses/boons that will even out this final encounter and give them a solid chance at completing it.

Now I've just got to think about how to actually pull that off. I'm thinking that they can gain resistances, temporary hit points, advantage on saves by completing various puzzle/traps. The benefit being they get magically imbued (while in the tomb) with a bonus, or suffer the trap's consequence (which isn't a huge double whammy since they'll have time to rest and recuperate before the final encounter).

Anyone got some imaginative, creative ideas on how to go about this?

Green Elf
2016-09-20, 08:16 PM
Really don't want to have the tomb take long enough to expand on that.


That's still a "step on it, suffer consequence" rather than a puzzle/riddle trap to bypass.


I like the concept of that, especially given that it's a tomb of a person called Ironhand. It's just that that then is really more a combat encounter than a trap with a means to bypass it with intelligent play.

EDIT: So I just checked out an Iron Golem. It was already well above the CR that the party could handle (5 level 8s, 5e) so combining it with fireballs would make it impossible. But it did give me what I think is a cool idea that I'll probably now use. Clues leading up to a final encounter where if they get the right answers, they get imbued with bonuses/boons that will even out this final encounter and give them a solid chance at completing it.

Now I've just got to think about how to actually pull that off. I'm thinking that they can gain resistances, temporary hit points, advantage on saves by completing various puzzle/traps. The benefit being they get magically imbued (while in the tomb) with a bonus, or suffer the trap's consequence (which isn't a huge double whammy since they'll have time to rest and recuperate before the final encounter).

Anyone got some imaginative, creative ideas on how to go about this?

What if a fail on a check causes the floor to slowly but suddenly collapse. No one would know until The whole floor fell into a secret layer of the tomb. Since his name is iron something, iron golems or metal based trapped would be cool.

dropbear8mybaby
2016-09-20, 08:39 PM
What if a fail on a check causes the floor to slowly but suddenly collapse. No one would know until The whole floor fell into a secret layer of the tomb. Since his name is iron something, iron golems or metal based trapped would be cool.

So maybe a single, large, round room where there are six "locks" which each represent a puzzle that will provide clues to what's going to happen (the floor sinking to expose the golem in the middle of a pillar). If they succeed in solving each lock, they get a boon to help them defeat the golem. Either way, even attempting it unlocks that lock.

Only problem with that scenario is that I couldn't put either a bane on failure or any sort of damage because that would make it far too deadly for 5 8th-level characters.

Maybe also something where if they figure out the clues, they also know that they have to constantly STOP the fireballs each turn? Have someone do something, like be on a lever or standing on a particular spot. Only the spot shifts each turn so that the PC's have to constantly move around.

Still needs a lot more refinement though and I still can't think of the ACTUAL puzzles/riddles.

Psikerlord
2016-09-21, 04:59 AM
My free adventure, Tomb of Horutep, has I think 3 traps in it which you might like. Download if here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=645444

Merellis
2016-09-21, 06:05 AM
Put a pit trap around a tomb with spikes at the bottom and run an encounter where the enemies have pushing abilities.

That'll be hilarious.

Storm_Of_Snow
2016-09-21, 07:06 AM
There's a recent Blake's 7 audio drama (Corners of the Mind) that has one of the characters navigating through what's essentially a trap filled tomb, which is also slowly stripping his memories from him - while something completely along those lines might be difficult to do, you could certainly have something in that that draws on past events in the characters lives to generate illusions, controls automata creatures to allow them to anticipate or react to the characters actions, or maybe have things like active locks that can defend themselves against being picked. Maybe there's a control room somewhere the party can reach to shut the memory reading/extraction system down, or there's something in each room or area that does it which can be destroyed or disabled (and of course, trapped versions later for once they figure it out).

There's also a pair of traps a distance apart, one of which appears to be lethal but is an illusion, designed to make people backtrack, the second of which is real but there's an illusion that allows people to get past.

ComaVision
2016-09-21, 11:48 AM
Could always peruse the Tomb of Horrors and take some ideas from that.

Starbuck_II
2016-09-21, 12:21 PM
If you want not traps: hazards.
cave floor covered in bat guano acting like quicksand (Str/jump checks)
geysers that erupt every few rounds, soaking everyone
pools of heated mud (can be bull rushed into)
tilted floors around a pit of snakes
ground that crumbles beneath feet
a trapped gold ingot with a sleep spell on it and a giant spider on the ceiling

An example of enemies near their strength would be ochre jellies moving into a maze full of swinging blade and spike traps, exploiting their immunity to move throughout the complex with impunity and even reproduce.

Puzzle traps:
There's a hallway full of pressure plates, with arrow slits to the side of each of the pressure plates, and a door at the end. Stepping on each of the pressure plates in order will open the door; attempting to open the door using the handle will result in a trap being activated, possibly from the room being flooded through the arrow-slits (or poison gas through them?).

You could go with psychological traps: Fear of the unknown-
Suddenly, the PCs encounter goblins that have no axes, and also no arms. The goblins don't feel like normal goblins, and once combat is joined, the PCs can't treat it like an everyday thing.

"A goblin reaches the party rogue? He bites the rogue on the arm, leaving behind an inflamed wound. Is it just a bite wound, or some kind of curse, the PCs ask? Say you don't know. The fighter is next, he lops the goblin's head off. After the fight, he notices that his sword is strangely discolored from the creature's blood, even after he wipes it off. Is it just a stain, or something else? Say you don't know.

It doesn't matter what it ends up being in the end, because it's this tension between it happening and it becoming understood is where the terror lies. "

Grek
2016-09-21, 02:19 PM
Buffing the PCs doesn't make sense. There's three purposes to a trapped tomb: A] to keep people away from the grave, B] to keep any possible undead inside and C] to alert the authorities if something happens. Here's a tomb I've used in the past with these sorts of goals in mind that you can either steal or use for inspiration:
http://i.imgur.com/a6qMZcN.png

Leewei
2016-09-21, 03:07 PM
Dwarven stonemasonry is supernaturally cunning. In addition to traps, consider adding in some puzzles, such as locked door that only opens when a Dwarven drinking song is sung.

Have a non-hostile ghost seeking the return of an object that was stolen from him (alternately, a strong drink). In exchange, he'll grant the PCs something else in his possession.

Actually, make that a pair of ghosts in separate areas, each with a grudge against the other, held long after death. The PCs will either need to choose their side, or else find a way to get them to drop their vendetta. (Good luck!)

Another thing to consider: Secret doors and false walls. (Real tombs actually have bricked-over passages hiding rooms.)

MrZJunior
2016-09-21, 03:43 PM
You could have busts or art objects scattered around the tomb which need to be brought to a central location and arranged in a particular way.

Also, there's no rule that says that the party needs to be able to win all the encounters, running away is always an option. It would be cool if an iron golem chased them through the entire tomb, part of the puzzle becomes staying ahead of it.

dropbear8mybaby
2016-09-21, 04:20 PM
Buffing the PCs doesn't make sense.

Yes it does. In fact, it makes perfect sense.

Knowing the narrative of the tomb would help before criticising the objective. The tomb is that of a former king, who wielded a powerful weapon that was effective against giants. He was slain by Kazgoroth who then took his form and place to lead his people into war against the ffolk. This after a council of his people's leaders had convened and he had tried to steer them away from exactly this outcome.

His people were ashamed of being duped by Kazgoroth and built this tomb to honor Thelgaar. They, and Thelgaar, would want someone who was worthy of his legacy and ideals to be able to claim the weapon and wield it against threats to the Norlanders and the Moonshae Isles.

The six "buffs" are tests of character and worth. Passing them proves that whoever entered will honor Thelgaar's memory and wield the blade in defence of the Isles. The final test is the golem itself. Still a challenge even with the buffs. And if you aren't worthy, then you're facing it unbuffed.

There will be bones of the unworthy littering the tomb.

Kami2awa
2016-10-01, 03:18 PM
Traps are more interesting if they are part of an encounter. A trap that drops a PC down a pit is boring. A trap that drops them into a pit with a monster in is much more interesting, and it's one of the simplest and best-known trap ideas.

A trap can also lead to progress - maybe at the bottom of the pit is a scratched inscription from a previous adventurer with a cryptic clue.

A trap can be set up such that it has to be avoided in combat - a room full of poison dart traps can be avoided with a few Dex rolls, but an encounter in such a room (with enemies immune to poison, such as undead) is suddenly much more dangerous.

A trap can also have an alarm built in. I had a swinging weight trap in one game that would strike a huge gong if it was tripped, alerting enemies to the party's approach.

A trap might not do damage. A chute could simply deposit the party (or just one of them) in a different room, with no idea how to get back.

Ideally, a trap should make sense. No intelligent creature will set a trap which it might fall into itself (unless it's immune to it in some way). Traps defend something valuable (unless they are intended as decoys). Traps in a tomb or vault make sense - traps in your bathroom, less so.