Dart traps and pitfalls and crushing walls, OW MY--...

[Lupine]

I want some fun trap ideas for my players, because they have a tendency just to walk without thinking. Plus, complex traps make excellent puzzles in my group (I have no idea why, but they love them...)

I don't want them for any particular dungeon, but just things I can put in some dungeons. My players are a level nine monk, level nine rogue, level 8 bard, level 8 warlock, and level 8 cleric. Depending on circumstances, they may have a level five wizard NPC, a level 5 fighter NPC, or both.

I would prefer complex traps, but simple traps are fine (in addition to fun ways DMs used and foreshadowed their traps.)

[JoeJ]

If you haven't already, pick up Xanathar's Guide to Everything. The section on traps will probably help you a lot.

[ShirAhn]

If you haven't already, pick up Xanathar's Guide to Everything. The section on traps will probably help you a lot.

This, Xanathar does really well explaining traps, how to investigate and remove them. It really helped me in the past.

[Aett_Thorn]

In addition to the guidance above to look at Xanathar’s guide, I tend to also think through traps in the following way, then design them based on the answers:

1) Am I looking for a cinematic trap, or a practical one? Basically, do I want to evoke a feeling or a scene to the players, or do I want it to make sense in the location. If preferable, I want it to be both, but sometimes you just want one or the other.

2) Who were the trap designers? Would this tell me anything about how they would design the trap?

3) Is the trap to keep things out, or keep them in? So is this meant to deter people from gaining entry, or once they did, to keep them there until the trap designer came back?

4) How would the designers keep themselves from being hurt by the trap? Magical amulet? Hidden trap release? Being immune to the damage it does? Thinking this through can give players a way to get around the trap somehow.

5) What do I want the consequences to be for failing to notice the trap? Delay? Death/damage? Resource depletion? That will help me narrow down the effects that I want.


I also make use of the ‘click rule’ that I’ve seen around. Basically, if a trap goes off, I say “click”. The players have a split second to describe what their characters do, and based on that the character may get advantage, disadvantage, or nothing applied to the save. It helps to keep the players on their toes and feel a part of the game, I’ve found.

[ImproperJustice]

In addition to the guidance above to look at Xanathar’s guide, I tend to also think through traps in the following way, then design them based on the answers:

1) Am I looking for a cinematic trap, or a practical one? Basically, do I want to evoke a feeling or a scene to the players, or do I want it to make sense in the location. If preferable, I want it to be both, but sometimes you just want one or the other.

2) Who were the trap designers? Would this tell me anything about how they would design the trap?

3) Is the trap to keep things out, or keep them in? So is this meant to deter people from gaining entry, or once they did, to keep them there until the trap designer came back?

4) How would the designers keep themselves from being hurt by the trap? Magical amulet? Hidden trap release? Being immune to the damage it does? Thinking this through can give players a way to get around the trap somehow.

5) What do I want the consequences to be for failing to notice the trap? Delay? Death/damage? Resource depletion? That will help me narrow down the effects that I want.


I also make use of the ‘click rule’ that I’ve seen around. Basically, if a trap goes off, I say “click”. The players have a split second to describe what their characters do, and based on that the character may get advantage, disadvantage, or nothing applied to the save. It helps to keep the players on their toes and feel a part of the game, I’ve found.

Your click rule reminds me of that scene from the Movie Mystery Men, where they trip the sprinklers thinking they have triggered a variety of lethal super villain traps and they each start yelling different things such as “run”, “don’t move”, don’t breathe!

[Contrast]

because they have a tendency just to walk without thinking.

Just FYI this is definitely the better end of the spectrum. I was once in a game where it took us two sessions to move from one room to another along a short corridor. There was nothing in either room or the corridor. Two sessions.

[Lupine]

Yeah. I suppose.

[VonKaiserstein]

Traps are at their best when the player ends up kicking themselves, like a bucket that is turned over in the middle of a dungeon. Within it is a rat, scorpion etc.

Or a series of harmless traps meant for the player to learn to ignore it. Let's say every room inexplicably has a chest with some gold or weapons in it, in the same spot. After 3 or so chests, one has a horrible trap within it, like poison gas, or a crushing room, or the classic teleport the person who opens it a set distance away.

Contact poison on any object or a doorknob is also fun- especially if you describe the door as plain wood, with a worn spot next the door, and a handle that looks new and wet.

I also quite like using paralyzing creature parts as parts of traps. Your standard pit trap is much scarier if there's a darkness spell cast on the pit, and a ghoul at the bottom. The players left at the top just hear screams, then a rhythmic crunching while they find a place to rig a pulley, or use spell slots to fly down a simple 10 foot deep pit.

A safe room in a stone dungeon with a plain dirt floor, roughly shaped into very low beds is also fun. The trap is that the 'beds' are graves, and they've been commanded to attack when they hear snores.

Of course attacking them while one of their members is trapped or incapacitated is also lots of fun.

Remember, your goal with traps is to induce paranoia and expend their resources, not kill or maim them. You don't want them too worried about it. Deal 10 damage here, 15 damage there, the sort of thing they shrug off. Then they'll accidentally go into a fight missing a hundred HP as a party. If you're going to use them, you'd better make sure they can't rest frequently in your dungeon, either with a time limit or a stream of minor encounters at least once an hour.

[OverLordOcelot]

I recently ran an adventure where the last bit has six 20x10 foot (4x2 on grid) rooms. The traps block people from getting into his lair, but he also has to go through them each day. The module just gave a vague idea for DCs and damage, but nothing interesting, so I used their damage ideas but did the following:

There are pressure plates in the 3 spaces in front of the door (DC16 to find), stepping on a plate or opening the door triggers a gas trap. Next to the door is a secret door (DC 22 to spot, DC 16 to find if actually searching for it). So the guy just walks on the far side of the apparent door and triggers the secret door to get in.

Next is a room filled with tons of wires with a few crossbows triggered by wires. It's a DC15 acrobatics check to move through the wires without triggering any. Only the two squares directly between the entrance and door have live wires, the rest are all decoys. So the guy just walks around the far edge of the room to get in.

Next is a room with inactive magic runes at one end, nothing in the room triggers them.
In the next room the floor is almost all pressure plates except for the two spaces right in front of the entrance, it's a DC 15 acrobatics check to keep from stepping on any of them. If you step on a plate, the door slams shut and the rune in the previous room activates and remains so until this room is empty. Guy just walks through alone and never triggers it, if he does bring someone with him he has them come into the room before crossing the pressure plates.
Also there is a fake secret door with a trap next to the real door that the guy just ignores when he goes in.

Final room has a couch with a table with some books and snacks. If you open the door, a mechanism opens the couch up and crossbow bolts fire at the doorway. Sitting on the couch makes mechanical ticking sounds. Also couch is trapped so that simply destroying it triggers an explosion. Trap is disarmed if a medium creature weight sits on the couch for at least a minute. Guy takes a short break on the couch whenever he gets home.

[noob]

A room with a poor quality floor which can collapse once there is more than 300 kg on it.(or in case of violent forces in it).
This room is featureless and there is nothing of interest that can be reached by going in this room.