Foxhound438
2017-02-27, 02:43 PM
So I want to have this thread be more or less a sort of brainstorming thread in which we can give our ideas for cool traps and where to use them, plus anyone's recommended changes to either make a trap more appropriate or more interesting. Below is mine, to get us started off
Necromancer's Bottomless Bone Brawl
Context: my current campaign features an NPC necromancer who is temporarily on good terms with the party, and he's working with them outside of his lair. Of course, he does need a way to make sure that the place is defended while he's gone.
Area: an entryway into a cave/dungeon hideout area; basically all stone walls, something like 60' by 40' in dimensions. At the sides there are ledges 5' off the ground leading to apparently piles of discarded bones, and there are 6 of these (3 on each side, at 10', 30', and 50' along the side; these are all 10 feet deep). The way in is a 10' wide tunnel, and opposite of that is a big 10' wide steel door.
Level and threat: 1-4 (deadly), 5-10 (dangerous), 11-other (moderate)
Trigger: the door has a false locking mechanism which triggers the trap when it's tampered with. Not necessarily "big obvious key hole that has a sign hanging from it saying 'please jam theives tools in here'" type of obvious, but maybe a small, hidden keyhole that a rogue might think to themselves "ah, you can't hide your lock from me" upon seeing; actual lock for the door is unlocked by passing a thin piece of metal under the door to hit a switch on the other side. Forcing the door open either through strength checks or through the "knock" spell without pressing that switch will also trigger the trap, but of course the party wouldn't in that case have to be surrounded in an open area.
Initiative: slow (acts on I=10)
Active elements: On the first turn, the trap causes the other end (the tunnel) to be closed off by a large stone gate that falls in place. On that turn and all subsequent turns, a hidden rune underneath one of the bone piles (determined at random) animates 3 skeletons as in the "animate dead" spell. One skeleton will stay on the ledge and use ranged attacks with its shortbow while the rest attack in melee.
Dynamic elements: every other turn after the first, the effective spell level of the animate dead spell is increased by 1, to a maximum of 9th level.
Additionally, after 15 skeletons have been defeated, a minotaur skeleton is animated from one of the bone piles at random (this replaces that turn's normal skeleton animation).
Constant element: the constant magical effects being applied to the bone piles kicks up a large amount of dust. Creatures that need to breathe who start their turn within 5 feet of the ledges, or on them, has to make a DC 15 con save or suffer from intense choking and have disadvantage on their attacks until their next turn, while attack rolls against them are made at advantage during the same time. Additionally, the area is lightly obscured by dust.
Countermeasures:
a) hit the switch on the other side of the door; if a creature is on the side of the door with the switch, they can notice it with a dc 15 perception check. A creature on the other side (the skeletony side), they can notice scratches on the floor, and infer that they need to use a stick of some sort to hit the switch, on a dc 18 investigation check.
b) each of the runes that animate the bones can be dispelled through dispel magic (dc 10 + the level of animate dead last cast; thus starting at 13 and increasing to a max of 19). If a dispelled rune is chosen for animation, no skeletons are animated that turn. After all of them are dispelled, no additional skeletons can be animated, and the trap is effectively removed. (This could be problematic if the party only has one character with the spell and not enough slots to dispel all of them; though that may just be a punishment for poor planning, or whatever, but I don't like to throw unbeatable odds at players... maybe allow a high DC arcana check, probably the same DC or slightly higher than the dispel DC, to destroy the runes, and have them need to be in the dust cloud to do it.)
c) run away? kind of defeats the purpose of the party going there, but hey- the trap kind of worked! Someone would have to remove the stone door from the entrance, either by using a spell (knock, shatter come to mind, and certain teleport spells would work) or a strength check (DC 15).
Necromancer's Bottomless Bone Brawl
Context: my current campaign features an NPC necromancer who is temporarily on good terms with the party, and he's working with them outside of his lair. Of course, he does need a way to make sure that the place is defended while he's gone.
Area: an entryway into a cave/dungeon hideout area; basically all stone walls, something like 60' by 40' in dimensions. At the sides there are ledges 5' off the ground leading to apparently piles of discarded bones, and there are 6 of these (3 on each side, at 10', 30', and 50' along the side; these are all 10 feet deep). The way in is a 10' wide tunnel, and opposite of that is a big 10' wide steel door.
Level and threat: 1-4 (deadly), 5-10 (dangerous), 11-other (moderate)
Trigger: the door has a false locking mechanism which triggers the trap when it's tampered with. Not necessarily "big obvious key hole that has a sign hanging from it saying 'please jam theives tools in here'" type of obvious, but maybe a small, hidden keyhole that a rogue might think to themselves "ah, you can't hide your lock from me" upon seeing; actual lock for the door is unlocked by passing a thin piece of metal under the door to hit a switch on the other side. Forcing the door open either through strength checks or through the "knock" spell without pressing that switch will also trigger the trap, but of course the party wouldn't in that case have to be surrounded in an open area.
Initiative: slow (acts on I=10)
Active elements: On the first turn, the trap causes the other end (the tunnel) to be closed off by a large stone gate that falls in place. On that turn and all subsequent turns, a hidden rune underneath one of the bone piles (determined at random) animates 3 skeletons as in the "animate dead" spell. One skeleton will stay on the ledge and use ranged attacks with its shortbow while the rest attack in melee.
Dynamic elements: every other turn after the first, the effective spell level of the animate dead spell is increased by 1, to a maximum of 9th level.
Additionally, after 15 skeletons have been defeated, a minotaur skeleton is animated from one of the bone piles at random (this replaces that turn's normal skeleton animation).
Constant element: the constant magical effects being applied to the bone piles kicks up a large amount of dust. Creatures that need to breathe who start their turn within 5 feet of the ledges, or on them, has to make a DC 15 con save or suffer from intense choking and have disadvantage on their attacks until their next turn, while attack rolls against them are made at advantage during the same time. Additionally, the area is lightly obscured by dust.
Countermeasures:
a) hit the switch on the other side of the door; if a creature is on the side of the door with the switch, they can notice it with a dc 15 perception check. A creature on the other side (the skeletony side), they can notice scratches on the floor, and infer that they need to use a stick of some sort to hit the switch, on a dc 18 investigation check.
b) each of the runes that animate the bones can be dispelled through dispel magic (dc 10 + the level of animate dead last cast; thus starting at 13 and increasing to a max of 19). If a dispelled rune is chosen for animation, no skeletons are animated that turn. After all of them are dispelled, no additional skeletons can be animated, and the trap is effectively removed. (This could be problematic if the party only has one character with the spell and not enough slots to dispel all of them; though that may just be a punishment for poor planning, or whatever, but I don't like to throw unbeatable odds at players... maybe allow a high DC arcana check, probably the same DC or slightly higher than the dispel DC, to destroy the runes, and have them need to be in the dust cloud to do it.)
c) run away? kind of defeats the purpose of the party going there, but hey- the trap kind of worked! Someone would have to remove the stone door from the entrance, either by using a spell (knock, shatter come to mind, and certain teleport spells would work) or a strength check (DC 15).