Very simple traps (3.5)

[Balor01]

I am making a goblin lair and since goblins are not all that skilled in trapmaking (unlike kobolds), I would ask for some ideas regarding very simple ways to prevent - in metagaming terms a meatshield - to advance down a tunnel and just eradicate poor goblins.
So no arrow traps, rolling stone balls, etc. I was thinking goblins may place sharpened stakes in their tunnels or maybe have a rock to be pushed into a tunnel or a position to fire sling bullets from an elevated place in a cave. They may even apply fire.
So, goblin-power and items at your disposal:
- 100 hard working goblins
- trees, ropes, stones, rocks, fire

... to make something that works.

[Nihb]

Pits. Lot of them.

You can put monsters such as oozes, snakes and even the cold brown mold (DMG). That last one is a personal favorite.

Pits. You can attack those who fall in it. Those that don't can be mass-bull rushed. You could use aid-another to push the one who jump over or to press them.

Or, you could use a wooden wall to push everyone down a deep hole. The collective force of goblins pushing on the wall should be far more than the power a normal low-level party could put. Then, put a pit. Or spikes. But spikes have attack rolls. Or don't put spikes, but crash those pesky adventurers upon a solid wall. Or a ooze that doesn't eat wood...

Also, put rocks on a wooden plate over a path. Hide a rope so a goblin, who is hiding nearby, can trigger the rope. Not as effective, but still useful. And if the trap is set high enough, the party's rogue won't be able to find it. It's a win-win situation : the party gets to die, and the goblins get to live!

[Balor01]

How could I forget hole-in-a-ground?

[Malbordeus]

a bridge over an underground river with a large log on ropes attached to the ceiling above it. the log is hoisted (via the 100 goblins) to a ledge where a couple of the little greenies hide behind it (taking shifts to keep their cave secure) ready to push it off when the tank gets to the middle.
also, given a 20ft bridge, and a 15-20ft tree being swung, you can nerf eveyone on the bridge. the river underneath it doesnt have to be deadly, but making it evaccuate outside the mountain into a lake is funny.

just remember tree damage when it hits, probably a high bull-rush, or maybe a reflex save to not get spammed off the bridge.

pit with greased sides... doesnt need to be intended as a trap, could be a latrine...

[Shademan]

There is great goblin trap or two in traps and treachery 2.
first, you have the hung human body filled with poisonous gas. when the hero moves closer to cut the body down he steps on a tripwire, causing the near-to-decompose body to hit the ground, split open and shoot out all its poisonous gas.

Or the cape trap. a pretty cape is daggered to a tree, looking up, the hero can easily spot a cage above it. the hero feels smug, so he pulls the dagger out and easily sidesteps the cage...
...falling into a spiked pit.

then offcourse you have the goold ol bucket with water/acid/leeches/angry ferrets placed above the door.

hmm another one just occured to me. have the cave be beset with wooden walkways, and have one of these ways go right above a huge fire, preferably in a pit where they can cook. once anyone walks over it, the planks break! they fall into firepit, goblins get dinner.

[panaikhan]

This one may be beyond Goblins, but it IS simple.
A tunnel has an elevated bit (it slopes up to a point, then down again).
Flammable gas collects in this elevated section.
Goblins, who can see in low light, have no problems going through the tunnel.
Adventurers with torches, however...

This also works the other way around, for gasses heavier than air.
-edit- actually, this is better, as the adventurers will be standing in the gas when they ignite it, instead of below it.

[Knaight]

One slightly more complicated, while avoiding such fancy stuff as pressure plates and gears, is the three weight rope throw. Basically, there are two pairs of metal poles sticking out of the ground, with a rope between them, extremely loosely. The rope is attached to two weights, on planks over pits, the planks connect end to end, and on those is another weight. The rope should be very loose, the pits very deep, and the weight where a goblin could grab and pull. The net effect is the rope pulled taught, pinning those in its way to the front of the metal poles. Cue massed fire.

If you think this is too complicated for goblins, a little more complication and you have a kobold trap. The rope is not a rope, but a pair of cables. And the weights and pits are calibrated so as to go into a pair of holes, while still pulling down. Furthermore, this completes two circuits, with those trapped connecting the cables. Zap.

[Snake-Aes]

However you explained it made no sense at all to me.

And a trap? Anything that exploits their darkvision and small size.
Cramped tunnels = adventurers fighting under tight space penalties
Pits are classics, but they shouldn't be everywhere because those gobs have to walk too! The latrine idea is a good one. They crap there, if raiders show up they push people in there.
Thunt made a wise one with the swinging spiked objects. They can hang at more or less a medium's chest height, well above a goblin's area. Incoming enemies, release log, suddenly all mediums have to survive an attack roll for piercing damage, bull rush optional.

[Lysander]

And a trap? Anything that exploits their darkvision and small size.
Cramped tunnels = adventurers fighting under tight space penalties

Along those lines, goblins could use flimsy bridges and ladders only designed to support small characters. Anyone heavier, the bridge snaps and they plummet to their doom. Of course the goblins would probably have a few stronger bridges designed for cargo and mass movement of troops, but those would be better guarded and better hidden.

[Snake-Aes]

People really underestimate making enemies fight while squeezing through space. Another way of putting it for them to read is

Tight space: -4 attack, -4 ac, no save, no sr.

[dsmiles]

a bridge over an underground river with a large log on ropes attached to the ceiling above it. the log is hoisted (via the 100 goblins) to a ledge where a couple of the little greenies hide behind it (taking shifts to keep their cave secure) ready to push it off when the tank gets to the middle.
also, given a 20ft bridge, and a 15-20ft tree being swung, you can nerf eveyone on the bridge. the river underneath it doesnt have to be deadly, but making it evaccuate outside the mountain into a lake is funny.

just remember tree damage when it hits, probably a high bull-rush, or maybe a reflex save to not get spammed off the bridge.

pit with greased sides... doesnt need to be intended as a trap, could be a latrine...

If your goblins are industrious enough, there could be wooden stakes embedded in the log, as well.

[Calimehter]

DMG II also has some nice rules for low-CR (and easy to craft) booby traps.

I don't recall them off the top of my head, but they had some fun ones for tripping people and bull rushing them, which might combine nicely with some basic pits.

[Thiyr]

This one may be beyond Goblins, but it IS simple.
A tunnel has an elevated bit (it slopes up to a point, then down again).
Flammable gas collects in this elevated section.
Goblins, who can see in low light, have no problems going through the tunnel.
Adventurers with torches, however...

This also works the other way around, for gasses heavier than air.
-edit- actually, this is better, as the adventurers will be standing in the gas when they ignite it, instead of below it.

Psh. Beyond goblins, a laughable concept. Goblins need no puny racial skill bonuses to be trapmasters, merely goblin ingenuity!

For instance: take the above pit trap. Use above oil to make it slick and difficult to escape. Add the above brown mold and burn the oil once enemies are trapped within. Brown mold doubles in size when exposed to flame. Burning oil is a lot of flame. That's a lot of brown mold.

Tight spaces: bad for parties to fight in. Worse for parties to be trapped in. once they're forced in, controlled cave ins can be set up beforehand to seal the doors, leaving them to a slow death. Once again, fire, brown mold, or any spreading death-trap will ultimately speed the process. None of these are particularly complicated, so even these not-so-trap-inclined goblins can throw them together, regardless of how many gears and levers they are missing to for it to be a true goblin masterpiece.

Also, bells on string. or sticks and hollow logs and string if you want to be extra-low-tech. There's 100 goblins. Giving them early warning is a good trap in itself at times.

[dsmiles]

How about several large sized heavy crossbows mounted on tripods? Instant goblin-sized ballistae!

[avr]

Smoke. It rises, so long as you have an air supply from below you can make life unpleasant for adventurers taking 20 to break down doors or hatches or whatever.

[Randel]

Goblins Treehouse
Have the tunnel stop at a sheer wall/steep incline/or cliff with about
ten or twenty feet of climbing upward until the tunnel continues.

In order for the goblins to make their way through here they ring a bell or otherwise call up to their friends at the top of the wall. Their buddies then look down to check who is there and toss down a rope ladder to let their fellow goblins climb up.

If adventurers show up then the goblins don't throw down the ladder but feel free to pelt them with rocks, arrows, or whatever else they have. If adventurers try climbing up the wall they pour hot oil on them to both cause damage and slick up the wall. If anyone manages to climb up the wall the goblins are waiting with ranged weapons or try to push them back down.

Note that making hte hole they climb really narrow makes it easier for the goblins to dump stuff on the adventurers climbing up but also makes it easy to climb up (like climbing a chimney).

Mudslide
Have a big reservoir of water somewhere (either drinking, bathing or whatever) ad place it at the top of an incline with its ultimate destination being a room with a dirf floor or the like.

When the adventurers get close then dump the water out to make the floor muddy and slippery to put them off balance.

Ratfight
Keep some rats or other animals as pets/food. Release them at the adventurers to attack or slow them down.

Alternatly, find a way to dump the animal poop or entrails on them.

Hotheads
If the goblins have a fire for cooking or blacksmiting or whatever then get a bucket full of bolts or nails and heat them up in there. Then toss it on the adventurers. Alternatly, get a red hot poker from the fire and use it to attack the adventurers.

Caltrops
Goblins should be able to use caltrops as well. If they have a heads up that adventurers are coming in then they can dump caltrops all over the place to make a crude battier between them and any melee fighters. Then they use ranged attacks to fight from afar.

The caltrops can damage their enemies feet and slow them down to allow for better traps.

Kealing Potion
Leave lots of bottles of 'Healing Potion' around. Have the labels in Common. It turns out that goblins label all their real potions in Goblinese. These potions are all full of rat poison, shoe polish, dish washing soap, or smells like goblin urine.

Note that goblin urine can be used in various industrial processes like tanning leather or the like. So its not that uncommon for goblin experts to have empty bottles of "Healing Potion" around in case of emergencies.

Treasure Tomb
Have one room full of treasure chests and gold and stuff but no weapons. When the adventurers step inside to grab everything then shut the door behind them, lock it, and pile a bunch of furniture in front of the door.

Then bury the furniture in rocks and dirt.

Wait a few months and then open the door to find the dead skeletons of the adventurers. (note that this can effectively be pulled off using any door that leads to a section of a dungeon that is not connected to the rest. Just let the adventurers walk through the door and then seal it off behind them and bury it so so they can't escape.)

Just be careful the party dwarf isn't carrying a pickaxe.

[BRC]

If the goblins dug this lair themselves, a good old-fashioned low ceiling can be a huge problem for any pesky medium-sized adventurers.

I mean really, why do Goblin Buildings/tunnels even have ceilings more than 4 feet tall in the first place?

[Randel]

If the goblins dug this lair themselves, a good old-fashioned low ceiling can be a huge problem for any pesky medium-sized adventurers.

I mean really, why do Goblin Buildings/tunnels even have ceilings more than 4 feet tall in the first place?

Same reason they have piles of gold laying around instead of going to town and using it to buy a bunch of alcohol and food and stuff. So adventurers can break in and steal it.

Actually, what would happen if a tribe of goblins took all their gold and stuff and just converted it all into booze or something?

Wait, I know... the vililage would complain that the goblins swooped in "with their big piles of money" and just bought up all the booze in town to spite the hard-working farmers. Then they would send adventurers after them to take all the booze back by force.

[Knaight]

However you explained it made no sense at all to me.

A loose rope drawn taught.
Falling weights pull middle in.
PC fly away.

This work?

[Snake-Aes]

No. The imagery you invoked is covered in a blur spell.

[Knaight]

Diagram time:

Pole= o
Rope= ---
Weight= X

____o____o
X------------------X
____o____o


To set the trap, pull the rope between the two poles horizontally adjacent to each other, and back a good bit. The weights then pull it back into the initial position. However, planks hold them up by default, as there is also a middle weight. It can be moved from the safe side.

[Snake-Aes]

Not helping. I won't bother trying to understand it anymore.

[Knaight]

Its not even very complicated. Though I suppose I could use this as an excuse to get the trial version of flash and make a quick animation...

[dsmiles]

Its not even very complicated. Though I suppose I could use this as an excuse to get the trial version of flash and make a quick animation...

You need an excuse for that?

[Peregrine]

This one may be beyond Goblins, but it IS simple.
A tunnel has an elevated bit (it slopes up to a point, then down again).
Flammable gas collects in this elevated section.
Goblins, who can see in low light, have no problems going through the tunnel.
Adventurers with torches, however...

This also works the other way around, for gasses heavier than air.
-edit- actually, this is better, as the adventurers will be standing in the gas when they ignite it, instead of below it.

No no, go with the lighter-than-air gases. Preferably odourless. And the "elevated bit" is only high enough for humans and other Mediums to comfortably stand... their heads smack bang in the gas layer.

That, ladies and gentlegobs, is why goblins would have tunnels (or sections thereof) big enough for Mediums to move through.

[Snake-Aes]

No no, go with the lighter-than-air gases. Preferably odourless. And the "elevated bit" is only high enough for humans and other Mediums to comfortably stand... their heads smack bang in the gas layer.

That, ladies and gentlegobs, is why goblins would have tunnels (or sections thereof) big enough for Mediums to move through.

But then you don't have the advantage of having it explode when the party is already immersed in it.

[DanReiv]

For small ingenious races (kobold, goblin and so on) I like trap triggers based on weight.

I.E not triggered by most low level conjuration, nor the resident.

When your party watch a group of goblin flee through a tunnel, they won't think it's trapped, and a recent study proved that most adventurers will try to chase them

Non-lethal but crippling traps : caltrops/grease/poop (fort save vs sickened) buckets dissimulated on the roof, hidden bolas/net/fireants launchers,

Now combine : minor image on a floor square, hides a bear trap. Triggering the bear trap release a jet of honey from the roof, covering the victim while a hole open on the nearby wall and big flask of fireant explodes on the target.

Annnnd that's when the goblins turns around.

[Snake-Aes]

Now combine : minor image on a floor square, hides a bear trap. Triggering the bear trap release a jet of honey from the roof, covering the victim while a hole open on the nearby wall and big flask of fireant explodes on the target.

Annnnd that's when the goblins turns around.

Minor image can't hide the bear trap.

[DanReiv]

Didn't expressed myself properly. It hides a small excavation big enough for a bear trap, and an infortunate adventurer's foot.

The minor image is the floor. Illusory Wall of the poor.

edit : in most goblin's lair, I suppose it could just be physically hidden anyways.

[Peregrine]

But then you don't have the advantage of having it explode when the party is already immersed in it.

Why not? Oh, because it detonates as soon as the first person with a torch reaches it, yeah? Hmm. Well you could rule that there has to be a few seconds of mixing between the (normally undisturbed) gas and the ambient oxygen, kicked off by the Mediums moving around, before it will explode. So one round after a Medium first disturbs the gas, it's primed to blow -- at that moment, if there's already a torch or lantern in the area, or else as soon as a lagging party member brings one in.

Or failing that, as soon as a clever device or throwaway goblin strikes a spark.