Trap/dungeon design ideas?

[Milodiah]

Hey all,

I'm currently working on a demo game of 3.5 for some friends who haven't played before. It leads up to an ancient subterranean temple of a forgotten god, recently repossessed by cultists. I'm rather stumped on what to actually DO in terms of thematic traps, encounters, etc, mainly because I've been away from my reference materials so much lately.

The god is an embodiment of entropy and change, and is a patron of lycanthropes and changelings/doppelgangers. The temple itself is in an arctic area as well, so that will probably also feature prominently as well.

Party level is 7, and since I'm providing the characters it's got good coverage of all the bases role-wise. Preferably nothing overly complicated, given some players are brand new to RPGs (although we've got a few vets to help lead them along).

Thanks for your help guys!

[Braininthejar2]

How deadly do you want the traps?

*A mural of a full moon that tries to enrage/confuse victims into attacking each other.

*A 'sandstone' floor that's really a non-newtonian liquid - it acts like quicksand unless you run across.

*An undead ambush supplemented by an illusion of aging that reduces the party's stats if they can't shake it off.

*A trap that briefly makes a victim amorphous - it's not lethal, but it makes them drip through the floor grate into the cell below.

* a mirror that makes the players' reflection look angry and twisted - those who try to break it before it spawns enemies will discover that it's no mirror at all - just a simple illusion projected on a surface of a gelatinous cube embedded in the wall.


EDIT: with the shapeshifting theme location set in an arctic area, references to the Thing are a must.

[BearonVonMu]

There exist a set of small non-ruleset specific booklets called Grimtooth's Traps.
They are horrifyingly lethal and unfair, but can provide a ton of ideas to get your trap-making thoughts going.
If you want something less lethal, I recently heard the idea of a dungeon where the wizards never got around to finishing the dungeon and so they used Illusory Wall on every wall, floor, and ceiling, making drop pits and hidden rooms a pain to find.
It made my sadistic side smile.

[EvulOne]

I would draw up a design of a sizeable underground cathedral complete with moon designs and decor and have the halls and such filled with 'surprise' traps such as sliding doors, covered pits and other things that literally 'alter the shape' of the dungeon. THEN I would fill it with random blocks and sheets of ice from cracks that have formed over the centuries via cracks forming in the stonework from the arctic ice, some of which might disrupt a few of the dungeon traps but have a function of their own such as slippery floors. Then put in some initial (now undead) worshippers as well as a few new cultists.

[Braininthejar2]

Caves that, through some permanent spells set there, keep growing treacherous sheets of ice - a wrong step can cause you to fall through the 'floor' onto stalagmites below. A safe path is hidden among the ice - a thin walkway of magically reinforced glass.

[Afgncaap5]

Possibly more of a 'hazard' than a 'trap'. but since it's an arctic region with a deity related to werewolves, why not having a portion of the player's path be through a room where a pack of Tundra Wolves (advanced wolves/advanced dire wolves with a cold resistance) is kept hungry, and the players are sent through right around feeding time?

It admittedly leaves out the "change" and "entropy" aspects, but I've got a feeling that neither the players nor the wolves will care about that much at the moment it's happening.

[Braininthejar2]

* A statue in an entrance to the inner sanctum that casts a polymorph effect on those entering - the key to entering the inner sanctum is to say the proper prayer (which can be eavesdropped on in game or read from a looted holy text) and then accept the change - the transformation seems debilitating at first, but if you prayed properly, it will give you the form required to survive the next trap.

* A sliding walls trap that divides the party. Once they find themselves again, a battle erupts - rather than a single party meeting, it was two scenes happening at the same time - with each half of the party encountering summoned doppleganger monsters pretending to be the remaining members.

* A frozen dead body of an adventurer that turns out to be a cold-subtyped mimic, allowing its allies to spring an ambush

* An illusion of aging and decay cast over those entering the room, which causes an alarm to trigger if the targets freak out and try to dispel them.

* a bunch of phasm who used to be the original cult's elite enforcers - when the temple was buried, they avoided starvation by hibernating, their adaptive metabolism somehow allowing them to survive as a block of ice formed around them. If unfrozen, they will play dead until out of sight, and then slither away to feed and reshape - once ready, they will start hunting the intruders - both the players, and the new cultists, which don't match their standards.

[SirNibbles]

Who set the traps? Is it the cultists or the original temple creators? That has a huge impact on how the traps would be planned.

[Gildedragon]

[cold] themed living spells
Couple Geluns
Traps made from Blue ice instead of metal?