B-dogs list of tricks and traps for DF

[b-dog]

I am thinking about compiling some of my favorite traps and tricks that I use in my DF campaign. Maybe it will end up with a pdf offer, who knows.

Trap 1: The PCs encounter a 10 tall by 5 foot wide iron door. When the iron door is opened (Lockpick-5) or broken open (Lock/Hinge 12/23, Door 50/58) it causes the ceiling above it to collapse doing 10d damage to all within the area.

Trap 2: The PCs encounter a brass door that is damp to the touch. There s a marine mtif engraved upon the door and it is discolored from the moisture. This door has powerfull magic impregnated within it. Anyone attempting to see through the door will see only water (Illusion-66) but there is no way to go through this door other than by opening it (It has Utter Wall-66). The door unlocks easily (Lockpick +3) and then a deluge of molten magma pours out of the doorway upon anyone within 20 feet. PCs take 8d+2 burning damage per second.

Trap 3: The PCs enter a room with an altar with a lone candle holder upon it. The candleholder is made of a platinum/orichalcum alloy and has a serpentine structure. There is also a platinum/orichalcum chest on the floor beside the altar. Within the chest are glittering green candles. If a PC places a candle in the candle holder the the candle and candle holder explode cause 10d fragmentation damage to all within 50 feet of the explosion.

Trick 1: The PCs open the door to a room and find a large chocolate cake upon a demonic throne. The cake will remain for 10 seconds and if anyone eats the cake then they will become immune to a magical poison gas. After 10 seconds the cake will disappear and then a highly poisonous gas will fill the entire area. PCs must make a HT-15 roll or instantly die, if the succede then they will take 10d damage. This poison is cosmic so any magical protection will have no effect whatsoever and no magical cures will work upon those poisoned either.

[b-dog]

The PCs enter a room with a black leather pouch. If the PCs remove the contents of the leather pouch then they will find that there are 5 geometric forms and when they are all removed a voice will command the PCs to place the geometric forms back into the pouch and if they do so in the correct order then the PCs will be rewarded. The geometric forms are made of shiney slivery metal, they are: a sphere, a cube, a tetrahedron, a pyramid and a cone. If they are placed in exactly that oder then the leather pouch will bestow 100 gold pieces. If the order is incorrect then all in the room will get electrically shocks for 8d per second until the room is left.

[b-dog]

Trick 2: The PCs enter a room with a black leather pouch on the floor. If the PCs remove the contents of the leather pouch then they will find that there are 5 geometric forms and when they are all removed a voice will command the PCs to place the geometric forms back into the pouch and if they do so in the correct order then the PCs will be rewarded. The geometric forms are made of shiney slivery metal, they are: a sphere, a cube, a tetrahedron, a pyramid and a cone. If they are placed in exactly that oder then the leather pouch will bestow 100 gold pieces. If the order is incorrect then all in the room will get electrically shocks for 8d per second until the room is left.

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

I just dig out my old Grimtooth's books. All the best traps are there. They're available for download, too, I think.

[NorphTehDwarf]

None of these traps seem to offer any idea that they might, in fact, be dangerous until the party is instantly slaughtered. If your goal is to kill PCs and frustrate the players themselves then I think you've just hit oil, though.

I'd say you could improve them by giving the players some indication that doing what seems logical will get them killed. The candle one, for example: any player who needs light will probably light a candle. If there's a candleholder there, they're probably gonna put the candle in it. If doing so kills the whole party, then the players will probably be a bit ticked.

I think a few of these have promise, though, and think I might even use a couple after I wrap them in a few layers of foam.

[jimminy]

I don't know about other people's games but the damage is much too high for my group. I want traps to 'scare' players but these would kill them outright. I agree on that there should be some hint. Part of the fun for the players is discovering the trap is there before it splats them.

These are very magical and arcane, which is cool, but I also love the cliche of the old ruined dungeon, once glorious, now fallen into disuse, and full of monsters. Can we see some traps that would fit in these old ruins, perhaps 'Indiana Jones' style? Also, let's see some traps for 'natural' seeming areas, such as caves! And now, let the thread continue!

Oh, I remember back from my D&D games when I was about sixteen, one very simple but effective thing was, the players found a vial on a workbench or alchemist's desk or something. The players assume it is a potion and so swig it but it's mercury. Sort of a trap, sort of not! The players had no-one to blame but themselves! Maybe only works when you're sixteen, though.

Hm. Super magical, old school kind of 'trap' idea, very cheesy...

Dungeon has a teleporter somewhere near the 'trap' room and a party member is missing. Heroes enter a room with five gargoyle faces and a door they can't open/gem they can't pry/macguffin they need to get loose. Each face has an open mouth and a lever. If anyone puts their hand in the mouth, they hear a noise in a certain tone. Also, when the first tone is set off, a wall raises, and they see, behind apparently impenetrable glass, their missing friend who was teleported away! He is strapped to a slab. Before their eyes, spikes jut from from the slab into his left leg. It is like acupuncture, but maiming! The leg is ruined. It makes him scream! But he screams in a certain tone...

The heroes can make a hearing check to match the tone of his scream with a gargoyle mouth and pull a crank. After they do, the right leg is pierced, and he screams in a new tone! It seems the people who designed the dungeon were experts in the nervous system and arcane arts of torture. Now they know which lever to crank next... Do they dare crank all five?

Turns out, of course, teleported hero is waiting safely somewhere beyond the room. The image of him being tortured was an illusion, and the glass was 'impenetrable' because they were actually hacking away at a solid metal wall, or something, if they tried to get him loose. He is safe and happy to see them... But does he know what decisions they made to get there? It will be interesting to see how much the players value their friend over their goal.

[gjc8]

Someone enjoyed Tomb of Horrors, I take it.

Except in a specialized campaign, I wouldn't use any of those. Even for a campaign focused on traps and careful exploration, I don't like these.

Frankly, they reek of killer GM. Illusion and Utter dome at 66? What kind of enemy would enchant a single use trap at 66? It's COSMIC poison, so no magical protection. Etc.

There are cores of some good ideas, here. Without the inanely high skill magical protections, a magma-backed door is a useful trap idea. Poison gas entering a room where the antidote is present and disguised might be fun, too, provided the poison is reasonable. But as described, unless you're playing with 1000+ points, these are GM-munchkinism.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by gjc8

Frankly, they reek of killer GM.

Agreed. Do you know how much 8d+2/second is, b-dog? Have you actually playtested any of these "favorites" of yours, or is this more speculation along the lines of "what would a hyper-competent wizard who thinks of everything and has Bloodlust do?"

With average rolls of 30 on that, my entire 300-point DF party would be making death checks in the first round, except the Ogre Barbarian who would merely be rolling to avoid unconsciousness (and with it certain death) until the second round. Even if somebody manages to get out after the first round by some fast spell or athletic miracle, the game is pretty much over as they stagger a few steps and then collapse with the first blown HT roll.

[b-dog]

Trick 3: The PCs enter a room with a circular metal magical symbol embossed upon the floor. There is a demonic statue shaped in the figure of a humaoid jackal andthe statue speaks to the party. "you have found the treasure room of the great wizard Diomeculus and as reward for your bravery step one at a time into the magic symbol." If a PC steps within the magic symbol, he will immediately be whisked away by teleportation magic and returned in 10 seconds with a chest filled with precious jewels and gems and one high powered magical item that is useful for his/her class.

Then the statue will speak again "Begone from the magical circle and allow another PC to claim his/her reward." If a second PC steps within the circle, the PC will be anihilated instead of teleported away. But a demonic doppleganger will take the place of the 2nd PC and will return with 2 chests of gems and jewels and 2 magical weapons. This repeats until all of the PCs have been anihilated, leaving the first PC to defend himself/herself against the demonic dopplegangers. The gems and jewels, once removed from the room quickly transform to worthless glass and the magical weapons transform into cheap brass ones that will quickly fall apart if used.

[Phoenix_Dragon]

Holy crap... Yeah, unless this is a kilo-point game we're talking about, those are just in-game ways of saying "I want to run a different campaign."

Only the dead-drop trap seems anyway near sane for a regular-level campaign, and only if there's a (fair) chance to detect it beforehand. Granted, even then it might be high, but not necessarily. 10d damage from falling rocks would be the equivelant of about a one-ton rock falling from a 15-20 foot ceiling.

But really... The magical ones in particular are beyond just brutal, and moving rapidly into the ludicrously sadistic. Unforseable, unavoidable, insta-kill traps are sure to be a big frustration for players...