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Mad Wizard
2008-10-25, 10:54 PM
What particularly nasty traps have you created/seen/experienced firsthand? I want to create a Tomb of Horrors style dungeon, and I'm in need of inspiration.

The Glyphstone
2008-10-25, 10:57 PM
A pit trap with Spheres of Annihilation in the bottom.

BizzaroStormy
2008-10-25, 11:07 PM
Potion of Inflict ________ Wounds.

Said and done.

Jack_Simth
2008-10-25, 11:10 PM
Use Greater Shadow Conjuration to mimic a Wall of Stone to cover a pit.

If you fail the Will save, it's a solid floor.

If you pass the Will save, you have a 60% chance of being affected by the non damaging effect of supporting you ... and a 40% chance of simply falling through. Also helps to divide a party (those who went over successfully have a solid floor to deal with).


Potion of Inflict ________ Wounds.

Said and done.
Those will detect as Necromancy under Detect Magic. Try potions of Acid Arrow, instead - they show up as Conjuration.... which is the same school as the Cure line.

Of course, for any potion, there's always the risk someone will use plain old Spellcraft to ID it... but that's a tricky check for low-levels.

Vexxation
2008-10-25, 11:14 PM
Use Greater Shadow Conjuration to mimic a Wall of Stone to cover a pit.

If you fail the Will save, it's a solid floor.

If you pass the Will save, you have a 60% chance of being affected by the non damaging effect of supporting you ... and a 40% chance of simply falling through. Also helps to divide a party (those who went over successfully have a solid floor to deal with).

Couldn't a player just step off the floor, back onto it, and then get another save as to whether it's a floor or not? If he wanted to fall through, that is.

Prometheus
2008-10-25, 11:31 PM
The door isn't trapped, the wall around the harmless door is. Open the door and the rest of the wall falls on everyone, except the person entering the door.

A Mimic (or group thereof) imitating a hallway. A player steps forward to find their foot stuck and being swallowed up by three sides.

The old, slanted-floor-that-leads-to-a-pit-while-being-attacked-by-foes trick. Why? Because PCs need more ranks in balance, it affects the entire party, and it presents two challenges at once.

A rope bridge that can be cut while the players are crossing.

A scary looking stone statue with gems for the eyes. The players are expecting a fight if they try to take the gems, but that distracts them from the fact that the gems are cursed.

EDIT:Also Thieves' Guild has a list of nifty traps & tricks (http://www.thievesguild.cc/traps/)

Jack_Simth
2008-10-25, 11:37 PM
Couldn't a player just step off the floor, back onto it, and then get another save as to whether it's a floor or not? If he wanted to fall through, that is.
Depends on DM ruling - in a lot of cases, with illusions, you only get one save (two, if someone points it out).

Of course, it's the DM that's setting up the trap....

ocato
2008-10-25, 11:44 PM
Curse the entire area so that if anyone tries to go through the ethereal plane or somesuch (ethereal jaunt, dimension door, any teleport style spell) they instead go through the Negative energy plane.

Vexxation
2008-10-25, 11:49 PM
Depends on DM ruling - in a lot of cases, with illusions, you only get one save (two, if someone points it out).

Of course, it's the DM that's setting up the trap....

Well, as for the "points it out" bit, wouldn't your Paladin buddy falling straight down clue you in that the floor was unreal? I'd at least give a circumstance bonus to the save in that case.

Which is funny, because in this case making the save is bad, not a bonus at all.

ocato
2008-10-25, 11:52 PM
Can't you intentionally fail a saving throw? That turns the whole thing into a sort of leap from the lion's mouth deal.

"The floor is real. The floor is real. The floor is real. I believe... I...believe."

Mad Wizard
2008-10-26, 12:00 AM
Hehe, these are great so far. This is why you guys are so much better than the WotC forum people! :smallbiggrin:

jcsw
2008-10-26, 02:45 AM
Have a long corridor leading into a 90 degree turn into a dead end (sorta like an L shape). This will make the party think there's something ahead around the corner.

In the middle of the long corridor, have a blatantly obvious spike pit. Most people would try to jump over. This is where they fall into the hidden pitfall trap just after the spike pit.



Alternatively, have a spike pit, then have a wall of force hovering over the center of it.

Sstoopidtallkid
2008-10-26, 02:52 AM
I'm a huge fan of Illusions, if they're thematically appropriate. From my post a few days ago:
You haven't lived until you've made PCs run through a tower designed by a psychotic CE Gnome Sorcerer. Go with permanent illusions of walls, permanently invisible walls, Walls of Force, and Illusions of walls over a Wall of Force. Fill the area with Chaos Beasts.
Make a hallway. Now make an image of a hole in the floor. Now make an actual hole in the floor. Now make a pit with a wall of Force over it, with an illusion of a pit. And an actual pit next to it, with a Magic Aura'd illusion of a hole. Use Pixies that fight like Kobolds, and Kobolds that fight like bastards. Watch the players cry.

Drider
2008-10-26, 02:55 AM
Old DnD books had weird monsters, I believe there was a mimic that was a pair of pants, a ceiling that smacks down on you, and one thats a wall that falls over. Also gas spores, they looked like beholders, and if you attacked it, it'd explode into a cloud of poison.
Maybe watching home alone would be useful? Even if it is a comedy, but it IS about someone using traps to beat two thieves.:smalltongue:

JeminiZero
2008-10-26, 03:20 AM
Mystic Theurge.

Ba Dum Dum Bish

Sorry, couldn't resist. :smallbiggrin:

Have an empty corridor, except for a huge pile of corpses (some old, some new) somewhere in the middle, who all apparently died in some similiar manner consistent with there being a deadly trap in the area (e.g. all burnt to a crisp). Watch as the PCs probe it with summons, spells and what nots.

Of course, there's really nothing there.

Talic
2008-10-26, 03:40 AM
Out of focus spyglass with a spring loaded dagger triggered to the focusing mechanism. Make sure to say, "I think you got something in your eye."

Talic
2008-10-26, 03:44 AM
Can't you intentionally fail a saving throw? That turns the whole thing into a sort of leap from the lion's mouth deal.

"The floor is real. The floor is real. The floor is real. I believe... I...believe."

Not if one or two in the party have "true seeing". Watch them get confused when they round a corner and see the rogue standing on thin air and illusion.

Tehnar
2008-10-26, 04:05 AM
This trap is suitable for a bit higher levels (i did it with lvl 8 people), that have fireball.

The setup is this, the characters are moving down a slanted hallway and at the bottom trigger the trap (i used a pressure plate search DC 23). What they hear and see behind them is huge boulder that covers the entire hall drop out of the ceiling and slowly starts picking up speed as it rolls towards the characters. The boulder is illusionary, make spot and listen checks for the players, so if they succeed make their will saves for them. Hopefully none realise its a illusion and start running forward in order to escape the boulder (you should describe its awesome mass and crushing ability to the players).

The corridor becomes horizontal at that point and the characters encounter a proximity trigger web trap that only triggers if there is 2 or more people nearby. The web should cover no less then 40ft of the hallway. That should web you at least 2 PCs. Now since the players will want to get out of this fast, the one with the fireball will most likely drop a fireball on them to burn away the web to save them. Remember to describe the sound the boulder makes as its rushing towards them.

The third part is the deadly part of the trap. Some 80 ft from the web part of the trap the PCs spot a pit covering the entire corridor and 10ft long (or even 5 if you know your PCs are poor jumpers). They are most likely running by now, the boulder hot on their heels, and will most likely try to jump over the pit. This pit is illusionary, however right after the illusionary pit is a real pit (concealed, weight triggered, no DC if running or charging). The PCs jumping over the illusionary pit should jump straight into the real pit.

It may seem the trap has a lot of ifs, it relies on your storytelling skills. If you make them feel the boulder is coming towards them and dont give them time to think ("hurry up, what are you going to do, the boulder is coming, I give you 6,5,4,..."). Since its a 3 component trap, a lot of things can be mixed in as well. Walls of fire the PCs have to run through, slippery floors, side passages in tunnels that are bursting with traps, etc.

The beauty of this trap (if it works) is that it forces the PCs to go where you want them to go, not where they want to. But allways make sure they have a chance to detect the trap.

Talic
2008-10-26, 04:12 AM
The problem with illusion is that most illusion is foiled by True Seeing, which is available at Level 7.

Typically when my players see a downward sloping corridor with a web at the bottom, they fear explosive gas (I recall seeing one that did damage equal to a fireball when ignited, and sunk to low-lying areas... essentially a damage doubler for a fireball spell).

Satyr
2008-10-26, 04:45 AM
One of my personal favorite was the trap within the trap - one trap that is only merely hidden and easy to disarm - but the real trap is triggered through the disarming of the first trap.

If you use pit traps, fill them with a fluid which does not carry human swimmers so that they sink to the ground and drown, and if the fluid is nontransparent potential help becomes much more difficult.

Talic
2008-10-26, 05:39 AM
Doors that appear locked, but actually only lock when picked.

2 Hidden pressure plates in a room. Stepping on them in any order other than the following trips a flooding trap:

Step on left.
2 rounds later, step on right.
1 round after that, step off left.
1 round later, step off right.

Flooding trap involves a grate in ceiling (4 inches between bars), and a diverted underground stream.

Stepping on plates in the correct order opens the secret passageway. Wrong order trips cave-ins at all exits, in addition to starting the flooding.

BobVosh
2008-10-26, 05:41 AM
One of my personal favorite was the trap within the trap - one trap that is only merely hidden and easy to disarm - but the real trap is triggered through the disarming of the first trap.

If you use pit traps, fill them with a fluid which does not carry human swimmers so that they sink to the ground and drown, and if the fluid is nontransparent potential help becomes much more difficult.

Just say it. Gelatin. You want to drop your friends into jello in a game.

InaVegt
2008-10-26, 05:56 AM
Do the following:

Create a maze, using the following ingredients:

Real walls
Real open space
Open space covered by illusion to make them look like walls
Walls covered by illusion to make them look like open space
Force walls (Which aren't visible)
Force walls covered by illusions to make them look like walls.

newbDM
2008-10-26, 06:01 AM
The door isn't trapped, the wall around the harmless door is. Open the door and the rest of the wall falls on everyone, except the person entering the door.


Dude, can I PLEASE steal that from you? :smallbiggrin:


Also, how much damage would a wall do to someone?

shadow_archmagi
2008-10-26, 07:47 AM
A cursed Diving Helmet of Infinite Water is always good. They put it on, it locks onto their head, and then they start to drown. For best results, include a box of scrolls nearby, and roll on a d100 chart to see which one it is.

You need a way to explain to them that some of the scrolls ARE, in fact, water breathing.

Jack_Simth
2008-10-26, 09:46 AM
Mystic Theurge.

Ba Dum Dum Bish

Sorry, couldn't resist. :smallbiggrin:

There are ways to make the Mystic Theurge a non-trap. Most of them involve such things as the Ur-Priest.

Well, as for the "points it out" bit, wouldn't your Paladin buddy falling straight down clue you in that the floor was unreal? I'd at least give a circumstance bonus to the save in that case.

The paladin steps on the floor and vanishes.

That'd net you an interaction will save, although in parties without Paladins, the high Will people are generally in the back....


Which is funny, because in this case making the save is bad, not a bonus at all.
Yeah. When I pulled it on my group, the Rogue player said "Best trap ever". The Wizard (the only one to fall through) got annoyed, and Disintegrated it.

The problem with illusion is that most illusion is foiled by True Seeing, which is available at Level 7.
9th, (5th level spell), it's got an expensive material component, and it's only 1 minute/level. Use enough non-illusion traps that they can't travel quickly, and that's not generally going to be an issue.

Dude, can I PLEASE steal that from you? :smallbiggrin:


Also, how much damage would a wall do to someone?
Check the Wall of Iron spell - it's got that option, and should be similar.

mindblank19
2008-10-26, 10:13 AM
This might seem a little wild (to be used only with v3 D&D)

Make a portcullis fall in the middle of a hallway, place one solitary space above it and one below it as well as pipes that connect the two. Place a Fire Elemental (or similarly superheated creature, perhaps a red dragon for hire) in the bottom room and cause it to generate lots of flames. Then put a tank of contact poison (the toughest you can get) in the top room and rig the poison to flow down the portcullis and into the bottom room where it evaporates and floats back up through the pipes. Keep some brown mold in the top room to liquify the poison stored there and keep the cycle going.

Then, place a bunch of assorted traps and intelligent, high level monsters in the hallway in front of the portcullis, and try to "convince" the super-high-Strength fighter that opening the portcullis right away is a good idea.

They'll be in for a surprise :smallbiggrin:

Doomsy
2008-10-26, 12:28 PM
There was a monster I am trying to find in one of the MMs that could disguise itself as a statue or a carved pillar. Caratyids? They were used as golem-esque guardians.

I would use them as a literal load-bearing monster that if the PCs killed the whole structure might come down. More of a cerebral trap than a physical one, but making them think of consequences is fun.

streakster
2008-10-26, 12:53 PM
Take a hallway with doors at each end, and have it rotate based on which side the party weighs down. Make sure they enter at the middle of the hall. The end that they're on begins to slope down and become the floor, and as they begin to slide down, the "floor" becomes hazardous - use whatever you like. I favor a bonfire.

Now naturally enough, being the smarties that they are, your party will soon enough figure out that they should proceed to the other side of the hall and the door on that end, thus making that end the "floor" and the hazardous end the "roof". As soon as they reach that end, however, they realize that the door is just a decoration.

Then the bonfire falls on them.


The correct response, is, of course, to turn around and walk away, but no one's actually going to do that.

Ganurath
2008-10-26, 12:59 PM
Taken from the twisted imagination of Kria Soulstealer and applied to D&D rules:

A spiked ceiling over a pit trap, with the trigger for a Reverse Gravity or Defenstrating Sphere trap at the bottom of the pit. Kria planned to use a trampoline, but I figured this would be simpler as far as game mechanics goes.

ocato
2008-10-26, 01:15 PM
The thing about traps and illusions is that they're fun as the DM, but you have to understand that putting your players in no win situations just to murder/upset them isn't very fun for them. Always make sure there is are a few witty ways to get out of it, and if they come up with something you didn't, be fairly lenient in their escape. There is a difference between facilitating fun and coddling them, of course. Just make sure they stand a chance of succeeding without magically following the complex plan you laid out ahead of time. And if the trap is just a kick in the groin without a real chance of escape, never make it fatal (unless it is a one-shot where multiple characters per player can enter like ToB often is). Players love games where they can overcome legitimately scary threats with brag-worthy stories. Players make excuses not to come to games where the DM gives them the Alex Trebek treatment. (Alex Trebek treatment: treating someone like they are dumb because they didn't know something that seemed obvious to you because you had the answer written down in front of you)

Bayar
2008-10-26, 01:18 PM
A potion filled with something bad labeled "Healing potion". That works most of the times.

Copacetic
2008-10-26, 01:19 PM
Have a trap that summons a cow and then turns it inside out. No real affect, just scares the H-E-Doublehockeysticks out of the players.:smallbiggrin:

BRC
2008-10-26, 01:20 PM
Traps are, in general, not very fun.

If the rogue succeeds his/her search check, then disables it, it's just a couple dice rolls, pretty boring and forgettable. If they fail and the trap hits the party, it's often just "Ow, okay, heal me", once again, not very fun.

Traps done Wrong is a trip wire that causes a blade to swing out of the wall in an otherwise empty corridor.

Traps done Right is, well... just see the "encounter traps" Section in Dungeonscape. Now THOSE are fun, a trap that uses the entire party, can take several rounds to bypass, and is essentially an encounter in of itself. now THOSE are fun.

Drascin
2008-10-26, 01:20 PM
I have used a very simple trap to great effect in different campaigns.

Have a pit in a corridor, with something appropiately deadly below. Wide, but enough to cross with a good jump. Cover it up with a perfectly normal illusion.

And then put a wall of force right where the pit ends.

In my experience, most people will detect the obvious illusion, go "Heh, too easy", jump, and smash themselves right into the WoF, falling to their deaths.

Dogmantra
2008-10-26, 01:24 PM
Set up a fairly simple "puzzle", such as having enemies laid out like a chess set and have the players think that to pass, they just have to checkmate the "king"... when they work this out, just have the strongest monsters charge and kill them (or if you're feeling generous, knock them out)

Never fails.

FMArthur
2008-10-26, 01:24 PM
The Boulder Feint

This wasted over an hour of time when I used it on my group: put a massive boulder up on very flimsy-looking wooden supports (out of reach) above a narrow, tall hallway that forces the players to pass under it. The doorway at the end of the hall is immediately after the boulder and has a normal-height cieling, so if they cause the boulder to fall, it blocks the doorway entirely.

The boulder does nothing. The supports are sturdier than they appear. Magic is used to conceal an Arcane Mark out of sight on the boulder (or similarly ineffectual spell).


The best thing about it is that you can use it over and over again, because the players all know that this one will be different and that the DM is trying to lure them into a false sense of security. Bonus points if there are completely unrelated traps associated with these. My final boulder was a Fireball trap. :smallbiggrin:

Fako
2008-10-26, 01:34 PM
There are two old threads in the homebrew section that have some good traps in them, links are below:

The Kobold's Workshop (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46685)

Fun with mean traps! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57791)

Important note: Please do not post in the above threads... Threadnomancy is eeevil...

I'll copy and paste the traps I put in them:


A regular pit trap, 20'-30' long and as wide as the hallway. However, only the first 10' are visible, as there are 5' square trap doors covering the rest of the pit. That way, they jump over, only to find themselves falling anyways! :smallbiggrin:


1) Fun with illusions!

The PCs enter 5' wide corridor (length doesn't matter, but trap takes up 25'), with a 20' spiked pit trap, 5' wide, left in plain sight, uncovered. The ground past it appears dusty and unbroken, as if this path isn't often used...

The truth is that the "pit trap" is an illusion on the square, and the next 20' are the actual pit trap, 50' deep with spikes, covered with another illusion to make them look like the floor... players make a running jump, and manage to fall into the pit trap anyway...


Visual:
---------------------
| | | |i|p|p|p|p| | |
---------------------

| | = Normal floor
|i| = Illusory pit
|p| = Actual pit

2) Fun with little known prestige class, the Candle Caster!

* - In 3.0's Tome And Blood, there was a class called the Candle Caster, which could make any spell up to third level into a candle, that when lit, would activate the spell (think of a potion, but you could modify them to do different effects...)

When the PC's enter a 30' diameter circular room, it is very dimly lit, with only a few candles burning in the center on a small table. There is a candle lantern, which is unlit, also on the table. On the walls are various sizes and shapes of candles...

The candles on the table light when the PCs enter the room, casting Suggestion on all of them to light the candle lantern to see better. The candle inside the candle lantern is a Fireball Candle, making all the other candles in the room light and subsequently go off. Do what you will to them...

3)Make the inquisitive player a little less curious

The double doors ahead are blocked by some sort of spiked pole on them, with a paper stuck on one of the jutting spikes...

If you have an inquisitive player, they will go up and grab the paper... It has a quote from V on it: "I prepared Explosive Runes today."... Wait for player reaction, then deal damage.

4) DDR trap.

Players enter a room barren of decorations except for a 10' by 10' pad marked with four arrows on it...

The first person entering the room is hit by a Heightened Suggestion (whatever DC will have a decent chance of failure) to go and show their moves on the pad. If they make the save, repeat for all PCs entering, one by one, until one fails.

When they do, all other PCs are hit by another Suggestion to watch and cheer him on, while the dancing PC makes a Perform(Dance) check. After his dance is over, all other PCs make a will save to resist the urge to "outdo" him. The lowest result gets on the pad, while everyone must repeat the saves over again to resist getting sucked into the trap. Add 10 to the last Perform(Dance) check made to determine save DCs for Suggestion.

Repeat until all players manage to save against Suggestion or they die of fatigue...

5) Diseases!

A row of pendulums swing in front of the party...

Very simple trap, use any bladed pendulums you like. However, any time one manages to hit a player, that player is hit by a Contagion spell in addition to the damage dealt...

I have only used 2 and 3 on my players, but I tell all my trap ideas I don't plan to use to at least one PC... They are afraid that any room contains a trap at times, and buy 10' poles and longspears just to check for them...

zaei
2008-10-26, 01:36 PM
If they fail and the trap hits the rogue, it's often just "Ow, okay, heal me", once again, not very fun.


Fixed for ya! =]

Shadow_Elf
2008-10-26, 02:11 PM
I've not had a chance to DM yet, but how about this?

You put a Wall of Force with a right angle in it (L shape) covering the far wall and the "ceiling". Behind the Wall of Force on the far side is a chest (for added nuisance, make this trapped or empty). Put a means of "turning off" the WoF. However, the ceiling is actually an illusory wall, and the alcove above it is filled with poison gas. {Insert nasty effect here}. Then you can add whatever you like to the poisoned PCs (have Golems enter the room, get some Drow with Gas Masks to Coup-de-Grace them etc.).

Knaight
2008-10-26, 02:20 PM
My evil one.
The party enters a giant museum, each window being a portal to a demi-plane, and featuring a different plant, fungus, animal, rock, etc. Let them walk through a few to get really nice herbs and stuff. When they are in the middle of the animal one, thinking about getting a mount, have someone shatter all the windows simultaneously, and huge amounts of beasts come pouring out, on all sides. Remember those really nice plants? Shrink plants, Alice in Wonderland style, they changed because they are in the animal zone.

Guinea Anubis
2008-10-27, 05:50 AM
Explosive Runes on a birthday cake.

Oracle_Hunter
2008-10-27, 06:42 AM
I've really been taken in by 4e's approach to traps: tie them in with monsters or other defenses. This does two things:

(1) It makes them real encounters without being unreasonably complicated. If the thief disables the trap, then good, the monsters will be easier to deal with. If not, then the PCs are suddenly at a disadvantage and will have to act fast to disentangle themselves. Good times.

(2) Makes them more realistic. Why would anyone put a usually non-fatal trap on something like a treasure chest and not tie it in to some other defense? Lone traps can be bypassed or "trip and healed" pretty easily if you give the thief plenty of time. But if you make him very busy after he gets hit with that sleeping poison, you might actually take him out.

Some nice, simple variations
- The Bear Trap: Clamps jump out from the wall or the floor and latch onto the thief's legs, holding them in place. You can combine this with a turret trap (it's easier to hit someone if they can't move), or with big, slow creatures (ex: golems) that would otherwise have trouble keeping up with a fleeing thief.

- The Pit and the Portcullis: the floor drops away beneath the thief, and a portcullis falls behind him. In the bottom of the pit is a Ooze (or other monster) that would be happy to snack on the thief while his friends are trying to lift up the portcullis. Extra points if the thing in the pit is a good grappler!

Fake Doors: the apparent way out of a room isn't the right one. If the door is locked, picking the lock will trigger a localized trap (pits are nice, but so are rock-falls and the like) since the thief can't very well pick the lock from across the room. If the door is not locked (and maybe even if it is) opening it will reveal a stone wall with some sort of trap inside (spring-loaded spears and scything blades are fun).

If you're feeling extra cruel, have the door open inwards into a slicked pit, and have the floor in front of the door sink downwards (or spring forward), dumping the thief into a dark, dank pit. Then have the door slam shut behind him, locking if you'd like.

Heliomance
2008-10-27, 07:04 AM
10ftx10ftxhowever deep you feel like pit trap. Stick a gelatinous cube at the bottom, taking up all the floor space, so that anyone falling in is guaranteed toland on the thing.

OverdrivePrime
2008-10-27, 07:56 AM
I am shocked and appalled that no one has yet trotted out the old "18 charisma, highly fertile, rebellious daughter of a high-level cleric of Law and Responsibility." Make the daughter a red-head to increase the will save DC by 4.

I apologize, it had to be done. :smalleek:

Bouregard
2008-10-27, 08:30 AM
A button simply labeled "Do not push"

While the party is arguing if its worth to try the button, let a monster sneakattack/atack of oportunity *hrhr*

What happens if they push it, well think either about something nasty, or let a wall open and give them some minor treasue.

Then repeat this trap after a couple of hours on another location. Always funny if the group walks throught rooms and rooms all filled with buttons a la "Do not push" or levers burried in corpses. And grumbles if its worth to try a few.


Always funny. Party is entering a full dark room, the door they come in closes. then they hear a knocking on said door. If they choose to open it, they find out that you can knock from two sides at a door and something big sneakattacks them from behind while they wonder that theres noone.
If they not open it well the feeling of being followed can come in handy later.

turkishproverb
2008-10-27, 10:10 AM
Players go to town, go to apothecary, and buy Healing potions and Cure serious wounds etc potions.


They get into dungeon, the potions turn out to be baleful polymorph and inflict serious wounds potions.

BRC
2008-10-27, 10:17 AM
A Pile of gold that some shocker-lizards live in...

Bouregard
2008-10-27, 10:37 AM
A Pile of gold that some shocker-lizards live in...

genius! I'm all in for the "Yeah we win-argggggggh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" feeling

goram.browncoat
2008-10-27, 10:54 AM
I like teleport traps. They dont kill the players when they fail their save, but they do make it more annoying. (which is how it should be imho, die-by-trap because of a critical failure against the slay living trap is just a very inglorious way to go). This can potentially split the party up so you dont want reuniting to be too difficult. (which is to say dont planeshift them across the multiverse, a nearby room will do fine. Then the rest of the party can go rescue the rogue quickly, possibly providing you with an extra encounter with the jailer or whatever)

Paralysis traps can also be funny if the party has to carry around the paralysed rogue for a while.

The important thing though, is to make sure that the person who got hit by the trap is not incapacitated or seperated from the party for too long. You want to avoid having one player sitting around doing nothing for too long.

Guinea Anubis
2008-10-27, 11:12 AM
A Pile of gold that some shocker-lizards live in...

Hoard Scarabs from the Draconomicon

Sinewmire
2008-10-27, 11:30 AM
I like Xykon's idea:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0036.html

How about an electrified door lock? In go the thief's tools and ZZZZZAP!

kbk
2008-10-27, 12:31 PM
Okay, this one works with the narrative, as its a complicated trap:

The PC's walk into a very warm room. They floor is a sturdy iron grate, and 10' beneath the grate is a steaming hot viscous substance (burning oil). The ceiling is made of black iron. The entire room is enchanted with a powerful transmutation magic.

The PCs may assume that the powerful magic is in fact a trap trigger. If they dispel it, they will really be temporarily suppressing the reverse gravity effect that is currently going on in the room!

They fall to the real floor (the frying pan), and burning oil lands on them! Sauteed PCs anyone?

Obviously, you need to somehow get the PCs onto the ceiling without them noticing for this one to work. A long very slowly twisting passage, combined with poetic license with the reverse gravity spell will do the job. So will any portals or teleports into a section of the dungeon that is reverse gravitied. For good measure, put a lot of interesting traps on the "ceiling" in case they dispel it somewhere else.

Heliomance
2008-10-27, 01:25 PM
Less a trap, and more a way to confuse them, but still. The party comes to a crossroads. All the corridors going from it look identical, no way to tell which is which. As they reach the centre, darkness descends (deeper darkness spell). It lasts an instant, then goes again. As far as the party can tell, nothing's changed. Really, however, they've been teleported to face in a different direction to where they were going.

D Knight
2008-10-27, 02:46 PM
try this. imagine you enter a room 40x40x40 the cieling of the romm is made of glass and on the other side are a bunch of Ooze on the other side. as you walk to the center of the room 2 iron dors slam shut and a room wide revers gravity goes off and they smash through the glass and take about 3d6 to 4d6 damage. if they have a mage s/he will be smart and cast fly or dispell magic take the fall damage which by this time might have killed 1 or 2 of the party but once the revers gravity spell is gone the doors fall open and allow the party is set free but hurt and they will never like empty rooms and enter them willingly. you could for go the spell and have the oozo drop on them too.


enjoy

Human Paragon 3
2008-10-27, 03:19 PM
Somebody please expain the purpose of the Wall of Force covered by an illusion of a real wall? In practical terms it will be just as good as a real wall... how is it devlish? Is it because it will appear to be an illusion, but you still can't pass through it? Because you can dissintigrate it or disjunction it? All of the above?

Fako
2008-10-27, 03:40 PM
Somebody please expain the purpose of the Wall of Force covered by an illusion of a real wall? In practical terms it will be just as good as a real wall... how is it devlish? Is it because it will appear to be an illusion, but you still can't pass through it? Because you can dissintigrate it or disjunction it? All of the above?

In my opinion, it's a trap designed for the mage. If they use Detect Magic in the room, the entire wall will be suspect. When they don't find a trigger, they simply dispell it, which allows anything behind the wall to enter the room...

Other than that, it might just be to mess with the caster's heads...that's always fun :smallamused:

Blackfang108
2008-10-27, 04:20 PM
My DM created a Portable hole from 4e to 3.5 for one dungeon.

The jerk.

Also from that Dungeon: a slide down to a room with a roper. I was too far down to get out or cry for help. and the Great Isochaderon(sp?) abandoned me.

Also: teleport squares that teleport you back to the beginning, right as you get to the exit.

My DM hates players.

Quayleman
2008-10-27, 04:41 PM
Personally, I like tripwires.

Double tripwire trap is more fun, with one easy to find and another in its shadow with a higher DC

then do this at the top of a staircase

and put an encounter at the bottom.

good times.

FMArthur
2008-10-27, 06:33 PM
Speaking of tripping over things: Invisible (http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=1&p=000003) pumpkins (http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=1&p=000004).

kbk
2008-10-27, 06:44 PM
I personally used this on a low level party:

Green slime that had an illusion cast over it to look, smell, and taste like a delicious gelatin.

The_JJ
2008-10-27, 07:01 PM
Have the player walk through a room with several pillars there for no structurally sound reason. The one pillar, preferably right in their face as the come in (you'll see why), is obviously covered in magic and/or steampunk type devices, and very close inspection will reveal that this pillar is built to telescope upwards/downwards (depending) then at some point the players go up (or down) and double back, so that they arrive in a room directly above/below the room with the pillars. It is empty and plain except for one thing. The floor/ceiling is perfectly smooth except for one bit, right above/below the espescially dressed up pillar, where there is an obvious crack in the stone outlining a small (5x5 or 10x10) square. There is a ridculously easy to find pressure plate (directly below the square if the pillars are above, it is the square if the pillars are below.) When activated (and since it should be in front of the door, it will be) they players hear a *tick, tick* and a hissing etc. etc. Naturally, they hop off of the square, triumphant. Then the whole ceiling/floor except that little square drops/slams upward.

newbDM
2008-10-27, 09:56 PM
I am shocked and appalled that no one has yet trotted out the old "18 charisma, highly fertile, rebellious daughter of a high-level cleric of Law and Responsibility." Make the daughter a red-head to increase the will save DC by 4.

I apologize, it had to be done. :smalleek:


Don't apologize, you just screwed over one of my PCs. :smallbiggrin:

His stuck up (insert you know what here) of a wife (who he also got by knocking up, and who took his entire noble land which he only had for like a month) is gonna kill him too......

Ganurath
2008-10-27, 10:00 PM
I am shocked and appalled that no one has yet trotted out the old "18 charisma, highly fertile, rebellious daughter of a high-level cleric of Law and Responsibility." Make the daughter a red-head to increase the will save DC by 4.

I apologize, it had to be done. :smalleek:If our DM tried that... Well, let's just say that we're an evil aligned party, a majority of which are perverts. Recurring mooks include violently amorous fiendish kittens, to give you an idea of what sort of crapsack world we're in.

Squider
2008-10-28, 04:27 PM
Recently my party set up a ambush for a team of assassins in a ballroom. They (assassins) thought they were coming to a dance to kill us. it was all faked, illusory crowd and whatnot.

anyway we filled the Ballroom with traps. my favorite was the disco floor, anyone stepping onto the disco floor activated the disco ball, the lights and music. and they and everyone within 30ft. got hit with Otto's Iressistable Dance. Pure Win.

quotemyname
2008-10-28, 07:02 PM
nasty encounter for mid-high level pc's in 4e

ingredients:
1 small room
1 elite electrified floor tile trap (see 4e DMG)
3-5 flying enemies
1 roper (which should start as a stalactite/mite? in the center of the ceiling)

the monsters should not be the hard part in this encounter. in fact, the flying enemies should be at or below the character level. the hard part is the stunning when entering/starting in an electrification square.

ruling concessions:
be merciful, allow your player's characters to push another character by taking a standard action to do so

make sure no one is mapping out the room, unless their character devotes a full round every turn to telling people where to avoid stepping.

SoD
2008-10-28, 08:13 PM
Less a trap, and more a way to confuse them, but still. The party comes to a crossroads. All the corridors going from it look identical, no way to tell which is which. As they reach the centre, darkness descends (deeper darkness spell). It lasts an instant, then goes again. As far as the party can tell, nothing's changed. Really, however, they've been teleported to face in a different direction to where they were going.

A similar one: there's a 10 by 200 foot corridor. The whole place reeks of conjuration magic (I think teleport is conjuration). Halfway along the corridor, is a black line. The half on the other side of the line is an inch higher/lower than the first half. There is a door on both ends. When the party reaches the door at the end, they walk through and find themselves in a 10 by 200 foot corridor, with a black line in the middle. On the other side of the line, the corridor is an inch higher/lower. Rinse and repeat.

The trap? There is none. There's just a dozen or so identical corridors in a row. Can't wait to drop this one on my players.

newbDM
2008-10-28, 08:45 PM
A similar one: there's a 10 by 200 foot corridor. The whole place reeks of conjuration magic (I think teleport is conjuration). Halfway along the corridor, is a black line. The half on the other side of the line is an inch higher/lower than the first half. There is a door on both ends. When the party reaches the door at the end, they walk through and find themselves in a 10 by 200 foot corridor, with a black line in the middle. On the other side of the line, the corridor is an inch higher/lower. Rinse and repeat.

The trap? There is none. There's just a dozen or so identical corridors in a row. Can't wait to drop this one on my players.

May I please steal?

Skaven
2008-10-28, 10:08 PM
There is a huge pool of 'water'.

There is a treasure chest on the bottom of the pool.

The water is actually a gargantuan gelatinous cube.

[edit]

Made me remember the funniest trap I saw. There is a pit with a trampoline at the bottom. There is poisoned needle-spikes just below the trampolines surface and pillows beside the trampoline, and a small corridor / room with a treasure chest visible. it looks like you are intended to jump on the trampoline and land on the pillows to get down.

chronoplasm
2008-10-28, 10:33 PM
The players walk into a kitchen.
Theres a huge pot full of boiling water.
Theres a bubbling deep fryer.
Theres an oven where something is baking.

Suddenly, goblins pop out of the cupboards and start throwing cutlery.

The pot of water can get spilled, splashing boiling hot water everywhere.
Somebody can get grabbed, and their face dunked in the deep fryer.
The oven door can swing open, bonking somebody on the head. That somebody can get pushed into the oven.

Vossik
2008-10-28, 10:57 PM
Psychological Lever

PCs all enter a room and are trapped, a count down from ten begins. The room is barren aside from the door and lever on the opposite wall. They hear someone banging on the door yelling something like, "Your dead now! What ever you do don't pull that lever!" Pulling the lever resets the count down back to ten, and takes a lot of effort. I don't remember all the details but the idea is that most people will keep pulling the lever while trying to figure out how to get out. Eventually they give up or die from fatigue. When the count down hits 0 the door opens to reveal an empty hallway and the voice counting down apologizes cheerfully about taking up your time.

newbDM
2008-10-29, 12:13 AM
There is a huge pool of 'water'.

There is a treasure chest on the bottom of the pool.

The water is actually a gargantuan gelatinous cube.

Dude, that idea was so awesome that I couldn't get it out of my head until I sketched it.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f173/celestialkin/sc000b8691.jpg


May I use your idea in my games? :smallbiggrin:

Randel
2008-10-29, 12:31 AM
There is a heavily locked door that leads into a 10x10 room. One one wall there is a big shiny red candy-like button labeled.

Universe Deletion Button

Pressing it locks the door and alerts the guards that there is a moron in there pressing buttons.

newbDM
2008-10-29, 01:34 AM
There is a heavily locked door that leads into a 10x10 room. One one wall there is a big shiny red candy-like button labeled.

Universe Deletion Button

Pressing it locks the door and alerts the guards that there is a moron in there pressing buttons.


http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f173/celestialkin/sc000fa496.jpg

Another great idea!

OverdrivePrime
2008-10-29, 06:39 AM
newbDM, I love that you've drawn these out. Have fun with the Cleric's Daughter trap! Sound like you already are having a lot of fun with your players! :smallbiggrin:

Orran
2008-10-29, 06:58 AM
Speaking of tripping over things: Invisible (http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=1&p=000003) pumpkins (http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=1&p=000004).

That is among the most awesome things I've ever seen.

Lorn
2008-10-29, 07:15 AM
See also: This thread. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79135)

The trap to end all traps...

xPANCAKEx
2008-10-29, 07:55 AM
anyway we filled the Ballroom with traps. my favorite was the disco floor, anyone stepping onto the disco floor activated the disco ball, the lights and music. and they and everyone within 30ft. got hit with Otto's Iressistable Dance. Pure Win.


thread win

Avilan the Grey
2008-10-29, 09:11 AM
Out of focus spyglass with a spring loaded dagger triggered to the focusing mechanism. Make sure to say, "I think you got something in your eye."

That's Grimtooth. Of course the detailed spec on that trap was (from memory) "detects low grade magical item; when looked into it automatically displays an unfocused picture of an extremely attractive member of the oposite sex of the user". Focus. Snap.

OverdrivePrime
2008-10-29, 09:12 AM
Speaking of tripping over things: Invisible (http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=1&p=000003) pumpkins (http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=1&p=000004).

That was incredible. Sir, I salute you for allowing me to waste time more efficiently.

Avilan the Grey
2008-10-29, 09:52 AM
My favourite from Grimtooth's Traps was the "inverted aquarium":

Take a Dungeon-by-the-sea (or Wizard with WAY too much money to spend):
Enter door to the right (or left, or wherever). Suddenly the PCs are in an inverted aquarium, meaning they are standing in a room with glass walls, under water. Outside the glass they can see big threatening fish or monsters swim by, and further out they can see murky shadows of even bigger things...
The room contains the luxury trappings of a resting area; nice couch, low table, a few books and maybe an old pipe or an ash tray or something. Clearly a room for relaxation and "easy studying"...
Now, one of the items on the low table is a small whistle.
If you blow this whistle, the glass walls will crack and the big aquarium, sea, pool, whatever will swallow the room and the PCs.


Own thought out design:

Boulder of Oops:
Think corridor. Think Indy's rolling boulder trap. Now combine that with doorways that leads to something WORSE if fled into to avoid the boulder.
The boulder might or might not be an illusion, depending on how angry you want your players...

D Knight
2008-10-29, 07:33 PM
Explosive Runes on a birthday cake.

with candles of Fireball made with the help of a candle caster (Tome and blood)

Silence
2008-10-29, 07:36 PM
Personal favorite trap:

Players walk into a room. Door closes behidn them, and locks. There are no other doors out. The door is renforces with metal. Not unbreakable, but a bit of a last resort.

In the center of the room is a pit with darkness cast on it. It's deep enough to kill the players.

Players will metagame and jump into the hole, and die.

Laurellien
2008-10-30, 07:18 AM
There was a monster I am trying to find in one of the MMs that could disguise itself as a statue or a carved pillar. Caratyids? They were used as golem-esque guardians.

I would use them as a literal load-bearing monster that if the PCs killed the whole structure might come down. More of a cerebral trap than a physical one, but making them think of consequences is fun.

You won't be able to find the Caryatid Column in an MM because it's in the Fiend Folio ;)

xPANCAKEx
2008-10-30, 11:47 AM
purile, but could get a few cheap laughs, but works well to deal with sleazy players. You know the one that hits on every female PC with a pulse, that you normally hit on the nose with a rolled up newspaper and say a "NO!" to:

its all a bit pg-13, and very purile. But i know a DM who did it to a smarmasaurus in his group, and the shame has still never died

going off the attractive rebel maiden/damsel in distress (high CHA blah blah blah blah), let your most loathesome scumbag of the group make all his smooth moves, suceed a few charisma roles to seduce her... let him play out all his grotty little ideas about how to woe the women folk. Build it up all you like: daddy is a rich merchant/forbidden love etc etc blah blah blah etc infinitum. Basically get him going on it hook line and sinker. When he gets to the part hes always wanted - sleeping with a girl! WOOT! YEEAAAAH! - tell him he is at it for hours, like the stud he is, and is so exhausted he falls asleep straight after. Tell him he wakes the next morning, laying next to her and sees the following tapestry on the wall:

http://www.webfoo.com/images/GenAkbar-Trap.jpg

and tell him that 'she' also has a manhood. And its bigger than his.


HP lost through damage can be healed with a spell. An ego crushed by a trap can never be restored

potatocubed
2008-10-30, 12:08 PM
One of my favourite, favourite traps:

A pit trap. Of arbitrary depth and dimensions. With or without spikes, water, yoghurt, or whatever else you put in pit traps of an appropriate CR.

Immediately beyond the pit trap is...

Another pit trap. Watch your players leap over one and land directly in the other with hilarious results!

Well, I laughed. :smalltongue:

Leewei
2008-11-06, 12:22 AM
AN otherwise unremarkable room has a piano, an anvil, a safe and an umbrella at various locations. Any PC opening the umbrella over their head will trigger a dimension door on the other objects -- over the heads of random other PCs.

Innis Cabal
2008-11-06, 12:26 AM
Long hall way lined with 5 gateways. Once you pass the first it triggers a 6 round timer, which is how long it takes to get down the pathway.

Each gateway has a Flesh to Salt spell, at the end of the 6 turns the end of the pathway opens and a crap ton of decanters of endless water open from the wall set on deluge. Any caught in it are pushed back, through the flesh to salt spells. Any that are salt dissolve.

littlechicory
2008-11-06, 10:19 AM
The PCs walk into a chamber, only to have the iron doors in front of and behind them slam shut and lock audibly. The room is devoid of furnishings except for a pedestal or small table with a book on it. The book is open to a page with a riddle in a language that's just obscure enough that one of the PCs knows it (Draconic typically works with my groups); the rest of the pages are filled with nonsense. There are a half-dozen glowing magical symbols on the wall, one or two of which resemble likely answers for the riddle in the book.

Easy and obvious puzzle, right?

The symbols are all magically trapped. Choose the effects for yourself. Knocking politely on either of the doors causes them both to open.

OverdrivePrime
2008-11-06, 10:26 AM
One of my favourite, favourite traps:

A pit trap. Of arbitrary depth and dimensions. With or without spikes, water, yoghurt, or whatever else you put in pit traps of an appropriate CR.

Immediately beyond the pit trap is...

Another pit trap. Watch your players leap over one and land directly in the other with hilarious results!

Well, I laughed. :smalltongue:

A fun variant on that one that I enjoy is to have immediately beyond the pit trap, a large square of the floor that violently pistons upward into the ceiling if it is stepped on. So, you jump over the horrible falling doom, only to get turned to paste by getting slammed into the ceiling as soon as you land on the other side. Eventually the PCs learn to avoid all dungeons, and anything that remotely resembles a dungeon tile.

DigoDragon
2008-11-06, 12:08 PM
One of my favorite traps I created was the Treasure Golem-- a large animated pile of treasure and magic items that attacks the party. It uses the magic items as its weapons, such as +X swords, wands of [Evocation spell], etc. It's magical aura is hidden by the other magical items in the treasure pile. It's a little on the mean side since the party has to fight carefully or risk damaging their potential treasure, but it was fun for a one time encounter just to shake 'em up a little. :smallsmile:


Another fun trap is the "Disco Room". This one requires a little bit of setup-- The room's floor is composed of colored tiles (red, blue, yellow, or green) randomly dispersed around. It works best if you use miniatures. Up in the ceiling's center is a large glass orb that radiates moderate evocation magic. There are two doors into the room, found on opposite walls.

When the party enters, the door closes behind them and the other door opens to release an encounter to fight (You can make it whatever is approrpriate for the party's CR, I used Warforged in mine). At the begining of the round the glass orb (Always wins initative) will randomly glow either red, blue, yellow, or green. The trap comes in where everyone must end their turn standing on the same colored square as the gowing orb. If you don't, then on the orbs turn it will cast an "orb" spell at everyone not standing on the right colored square. The element depends on the orb's color-- Fire for red, cold for blue, electricity for yellow, and acid for green. At the begining of each round the glass orb changes color.

Obviously the party can cast Resist and Protection spells to lessen the damage, but it's fun because PCs and monsters alike might want to use tactics to force enemy units to end their turns on the wrong square and thus get zapped themselves. :smallsmile: So it's interactive fun for everyone!

Mewtarthio
2008-11-06, 11:41 PM
There is a door with ten symbols written on it. A successful Knowledge check (Arcana or History) indicates that this door should open if the magical runes that correspond to the symbols are activated via touch. Such runes remain active for four hours after being triggered (to prevent narcoleptic parties, of course). Standard stuff, really. Go ahead and render them inert for four hours if dispelled, just to be sure the PCs don't accidentally dispel any of your precious magical traps.

The runes used to open this particular door are hidden inside a nearby maze. Each rune is on a dead end at the end of a long hallway. The maze is filled with a magically "radioactive" material: Every ten minutes, the PCs must make a Fort save at a relatively lenient DC or take a point of damage to every ability score. The ceiling of the maze is covered in spikes.

At a random point along the hallway that leads up to each rune is a Reverse Gravity trap triggered by stepping on the triggering tile. It covers the entire hallway, sending the PCs flying into the spikes.

One of the runes is special. Ideally, this one should be around the sixth or seventh rune they encounter: If it's too early, the either won't have fallen into a pattern or will still suspect a subversion coming up. If it's too late, they'll figure you've got a suprise waiting for them at the end. The ceiling spikes between that rune and the triggering tile are poisoned (start poisoning far enough after the tile that, if the PCs send a sacrificial lamb down to activate the trap early, they won't discover the poison. The rune itself is trapped: When activated, the ceiling directly above turns out to be a very large block that falls down and crushed the people at the end of the hall.

The floor is also a trap. It is calibrated to break apart when the falling block lands on it. It is effectively a pit trap that is triggered along with the block: The block crushes the PCs, then the PCs fall into the pit with the block on top of them, pinning them down.

The pit is filled with acid.

Vagnarok
2008-11-07, 10:50 AM
I modified a trap in the DM guide for a humor adventure that I will hold on april 1st this year:

The PCs will open a door that is completely untrapped, but when the leader passes through the doorway, a giant human butt appears and the leader gets forced into the colon unless he makes a reflex save. Then, just as quickly as it appeared, the butt disappears back into the darkness. Unbeknown to the other party members, the one who was swallowed up by the butt was teleported to the dungeon's privy and is now trapped in the pit underneath the toilets. He has to make a fort save or be subjected to some pretty nasty diseases, and his party members have to find him and get him out!

Skaven
2008-11-08, 05:47 PM
Dude, that idea was so awesome that I couldn't get it out of my head until I sketched it.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f173/celestialkin/sc000b8691.jpg


May I use your idea in my games? :smallbiggrin:

Sorry for the late reply.

Of course you may!

I would be honored. Just let me know how it goes. ;)

Inhuman Bot
2008-11-08, 06:17 PM
The only interesting trap I have is simple.

In a library, one book is a monster manuel. Open it, and every page has a different monster summoning spell.

Or make a spell book that hits you with the spells you read.

Thats all I have, right now.

littlechicory
2008-11-09, 03:52 PM
One that my DM hit us with was a library with a few books fallen out of the shelves. My character is slightly OCD, so she had to stop and pick them up and put them back on the shelves.

One of the books just happened to be Vaarsuvius's Big Book of Explosive Runes.

Heliomance
2008-11-09, 05:05 PM
Personal favorite trap:

Players walk into a room. Door closes behidn them, and locks. There are no other doors out. The door is renforces with metal. Not unbreakable, but a bit of a last resort.

In the center of the room is a pit with darkness cast on it. It's deep enough to kill the players.

Players will metagame and jump into the hole, and die.

If they're stupid enough to jump into a pit they can't see down, they deserve to die. Seriously, you would have to be retarded to just jump into a darkness spell.

Chaltab
2008-11-09, 11:28 PM
When in doubt, make it blow up.

My personal favorite type of trap is something like a traditional bear trap, switch trap, or any other trap with a predictable outcome that, instead of following that path, simply explodes instead. That way, even if you PCs find it, they still make set it off.