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Old 04-27-2015, 09:14 PM   #11
starslayer
 
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Default Re: Building permanent magical traps with GURPS Magic

You want to create an evil trap that kills people with fire and necromancy never enfettered your thoughts? Animate a skeleton, server is head put the ring in one eye and tell it to activate it when someone enterers the room.

Good reason for creepy libraries to have skulls on the walls.
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Old 04-27-2015, 10:18 PM   #12
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Default Re: Building permanent magical traps with GURPS Magic

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Originally Posted by hal View Post
One "Permanent" magic trap I employed against a player character was a set of doors that were relatively huge. On the doors, were Huge Bronze Door Knobs that required what looked like two hands to turn them.

They were Hexed.

The poor Thief could not let go of the hexed item once he put both hands on the knob.
Now that one I like.
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Old 04-27-2015, 10:31 PM   #13
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Default Re: Building permanent magical traps with GURPS Magic

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Originally Posted by starslayer View Post
You want to create an evil trap that kills people with fire and necromancy never enfettered your thoughts? Animate a skeleton, server is head put the ring in one eye and tell it to activate it when someone enterers the room.

Good reason for creepy libraries to have skulls on the walls.
It did occur to me to use golems or skeletons, but I find these to be unsatisfying solutions, for several reasons.

First, it's like saying you're constructing a mechanical crossbow trap by handing some guy a crossbow and saying, "Shoot anyone who comes through that door with this crossbow, which is a mechanical device." That's not a trap, that's a guy with a crossbow. And a golem or skeleton armed with a magic item isn't a trap, it'ts, well, you get the idea.

Second, why not just give the skeleton a sword and say, "If anyone comes in here, sword them to death"? Then give the magic ring to someone who can use it more effectively.

Third, the skeleton in particular is vulnerable to turning. If all magical traps (or even half of them) can be defeated by turning, that's a rather faulty design.

Fourth, many spells have item versions that are restricted to mages, and Fire Cloud is one of them.So you'd need a skeleton that is also a mage, and if you've got one of those, surely you have better uses for it than sitting there acting as a trap trigger.

So for those reasons I would rather not use a golem or undead creature as a trigger. I was hoping someone would say, "Hey, sounds like you should read this article in Pyramid number whatever," where Link is extended to permanent enchantments, but perhaps that just doesn't exist.
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Old 04-27-2015, 10:59 PM   #14
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Default Re: Building permanent magical traps with GURPS Magic

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Then this trick is not what I'm looking for. I don't want to be limited to the handful of spells that can be cast as an enchanted area. I want the full gamut of spells, including ones that deal direct damage.
Create Fire is an enchanted area that deals direct damage. But I don't really see the issue. If you want to make a brass dragon's head that can puke fireballs at anyone who walks through a door without bearing the Master's Sigil, then some enchanter did some custom work. That PCs couldn't duplicate it without a lot of research doesn't really matter.
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Old 04-28-2015, 08:09 AM   #15
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Default Re: Building permanent magical traps with GURPS Magic

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Originally Posted by Grouchy Chris View Post
It did occur to me to use golems or skeletons, but I find these to be unsatisfying solutions, for several reasons.

First, it's like saying you're constructing a mechanical crossbow trap by handing some guy a crossbow and saying, "Shoot anyone who comes through that door with this crossbow, which is a mechanical device." That's not a trap, that's a guy with a crossbow. And a golem or skeleton armed with a magic item isn't a trap, it'ts, well, you get the idea.

Second, why not just give the skeleton a sword and say, "If anyone comes in here, sword them to death"? Then give the magic ring to someone who can use it more effectively.

Third, the skeleton in particular is vulnerable to turning. If all magical traps (or even half of them) can be defeated by turning, that's a rather faulty design.

Fourth, many spells have item versions that are restricted to mages, and Fire Cloud is one of them.So you'd need a skeleton that is also a mage, and if you've got one of those, surely you have better uses for it than sitting there acting as a trap trigger.

So for those reasons I would rather not use a golem or undead creature as a trigger. I was hoping someone would say, "Hey, sounds like you should read this article in Pyramid number whatever," where Link is extended to permanent enchantments, but perhaps that just doesn't exist.
I've used golems in the past. Their templates are customizable. Remove everything that they don't need (legs, all arms except one weapon mount, etc.) to reduce the cost and shape them like a floor tile, brick, what have you (including SM, adjusting HP and DR to match). Give them Magery and ER (if needed). Put them in place with their enchanted item.
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Old 04-28-2015, 10:32 AM   #16
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Default Re: Building permanent magical traps with GURPS Magic

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Create Fire is an enchanted area that deals direct damage. But I don't really see the issue. If you want to make a brass dragon's head that can puke fireballs at anyone who walks through a door without bearing the Master's Sigil, then some enchanter did some custom work. That PCs couldn't duplicate it without a lot of research doesn't really matter.
This!

Also, just because the book says a spell can't be cast permanently does NOT mean you can't have it do so in your game. You should decide on balance. The default system is balanced based on the designers' ideas of what that means. Sure, they are a savvy bunch, but you don't have to slavishly adhere to their words. GURPS IS a toolkit.

Also, it's common in RPGs for the bad evil Lich to have powerful magics beyond the capability of the PCs. As a GM prepping GURPS becomes less cumbersome when you stop worrying about points and matching PC creation rules. Do you have powers? Just create the magical trap and eye-ball the damage based on the attacks listed in there. Figure your average damage and decide if it's on the scale you want (annoying - deadly).

There has GOT to be something in Dungeon Fantasy for this... (peels open PDFs). Yeah, the suggestions in Dungeon Fantasy 2: Dungeons are wonderfully easy. Worth checking out.
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Old 04-28-2015, 10:49 AM   #17
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Default Re: Building permanent magical traps with GURPS Magic

Seems like you're overcomplicating things here...

If it's for you as GM, why not state it as you need and get over with it? Define attack stats, defense (if it can be broken/damaged), trigger to activate/deactivate and get the game on.

If you're really stubborn and want to stat it for the sake of it, I'd do with minor tweaks for "Imbuements".

Treat the area/passage/door/chest/whatever as the item being imbued, DX is the caster/enchanter DX at the time of creation of the imbue and used everytime the Trigger happens to roll if the "imbue" goes off and unleash the trap.

The trap can imbue as many times as the trigger is...triggered. (or limit that for less deadly one)
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Old 04-28-2015, 11:44 AM   #18
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Default Re: Building permanent magical traps with GURPS Magic

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If you're really stubborn and want to stat it for the sake of it, I'd do with minor tweaks for "Imbuements".

Treat the area/passage/door/chest/whatever as the item being imbued, DX is the caster/enchanter DX at the time of creation of the imbue and used everytime the Trigger happens to roll if the "imbue" goes off and unleash the trap.

The trap can imbue as many times as the trigger is...triggered. (or limit that for less deadly one)
O trap imbuements!
Nice idea actually.
For the Op though, seriously much of fantasy fiction and RPGs have NPCs doing stuff others cant.
Keep it balanced so if the PCs want to research it you can work out details later if needed. Or not and forbid them.
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Old 04-28-2015, 01:10 PM   #19
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Default Re: Building permanent magical traps with GURPS Magic

I'm curious - just how "lethal" do you want your magical traps?
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Old 04-28-2015, 02:35 PM   #20
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Default Re: Building permanent magical traps with GURPS Magic

Create Gate:

Use of this spell permits the caster to set the conditions under which the gate shall operate.

Definitions: Each gate is denoted by a numerical value. Each letter after the gate number determines the entry point for the gate, and the exit point for the gate - A and B respectively.

Concept: Four Gates are required for this particularly fun trap. The first three involve the transport of two Stone Pillars weighing tons, The fourth gate, involves the transport of living creatures - but only when in conjunction with the falling of a stone pillar:

Physical Aspects of the Trap: Requires two stone pillars enchanted with the Grease spell - insuring that the stone pillars slide down the shaft that they are stored in with minimal effort. Two shafts are required to store the "Piston-like" stone pillars enchanted with Grease. A "storeroom/jail" is also required for those GM's who want to be moderately merciful...

Ok, first the room that the victims will end up in. It is a 20' x 20' foot square room with no doors at the bottom. It is 30 feet up such that there is a doorway at the top, with a door that is closed about it. What leads to this and where the doorway connects to is up to the GM. At the bottom of the room - the area's mana has been removed from it. The reason for this is to keep any information spells from working, or any scrying spells from working, any divinations etc - from working.

Now for the placement of the stone pillars, along with the gates...

There will be two pillars of stone - each enchanted such that their sides are enchanted with Grease. This insures that the stone pillars will slide down through their "chutes" with little to no difficulty. Each Pillar will rest securely in its "chute", there being Chute 1 and Chute 2 in existence. When Chute 1 is full, Chute 2 will also be full, and Ground Zero for the trap will be empty of any stone pillars. When someone walks over ground zero, chute 1's pillar will drop onto ground zero. Chute 2's pillar will fall through the gates into Chute 1 - making it ready for the next use of the trap. Once Pillar 1 strikes through Chute 1's gate onto Ground zero, it will have been triggered by a living being - who will have disappeared under the impact of Pillar 1. 10 Minutes Later, Pillar 1 will fall through the gate underneath it, and fall into Chute #2. At this point in time, Chute #1 is armed with Pillar #2, and ready to go through the gate under the right circumstances.

So, how does this all work? Gate 1A is at the bottom of Chute 1. It is directional such that the gate can only operate on the side furthest away from gravity. The gate itself is parallel with the surface or perpendicular to Gravity.

Gate 1B on the other hand, is in the top of the abscess that is just the right height for pillar's 1 or 2 to be able to rest comfortably on the ground and still have room above the pillar.

Gate 2A rests at the surface of Ground Zero for the trap. Gate 3 A is also at the same location as Gate 2A - but only allows a living being that is both in contact with the gate and with a stone pillar enchanted with Grease (ie Pillars 1 or 2 coming down).

Gate 2B leads to Chute 2's ceiling. It is a one way gate that only permits a Stone Pillar enchanted with Grease to fall through it.

Gate 3B leads to a room that is the prison mentioned earlier. It is mana dead for the most part, but for the topmost portion of its ceiling to enable the gate to function. The fall through the air in a mana dead zone onto a hard surface below etc - is going to be a problem for the delver.

Gate 4A: Located at the bottom of Chute 2, leads to Chute 1's ceiling. It is a one way gate that permits only Granite enchanted with Grease to pass through it in one direction only.

Gate 4B: Located in the ceiling of Chute 1, permits the Stone Pillar to exit chute 2 and rest in Chute 1, ready for when the whole trap system should resume again.

In a nutshell, the gates only work roughly every 15 minutes or so, such that when the pillar drops, it forces a person through the "living beings only" gate, and out of sight of the person's comrades. If a non-living being walks under the gate (such as undead, or Golems or what have you), the trap will not trigger.

GM's who are particularly nasty, can ignore the "prisoner" aspect of the trap and simply squash target like grape. If he really wants to be "careful", the pillars can be enchanted with Ward against Earth Spells - so as to keep mages from casting Stone to Air spells and damaging the pillars.

From the perspective of the person's friends - it looks like the person was squashed by the pillar, and magically the area of his death is "blood free". If someone casts a divination "is my friend dead?" the spell will not be able to function because the target of the inquiry is in a mana dead zone. Trace and Seek will also fail to work as a consequence of this. When the trap resets - it is ready for anyone who should fall into ground zero...

Now - as for ground zero? It is up to the GM to decide the dimensions of that Granite Pillar. Too small, and the target can dodge out of the way if they aren't surprised. Make it too big, and the enchantments are going to be costly.

As for the actual Trigger for Gate 1A? It only permits Enchanted Stone Pillars through it, and only if there Is a living creature of a size 100 lbs or greater, directly at the center of the impact point of the pillar that would land on the floor.

Gate 2 A only works when an Enchanted Stone Pillar has been resting upon it for 10 minutes. It is a one way directional gate.

Gate 4 A only works when Gate 4 B does not have any Enchanted Granite stone within 4 feet of it (and of course, is 1 foot above the chute 2.

Net result? A stone trap with two stone pillars as ammunition for the trap. It could probably be done with one stone pillar - but what the heck, if one is good, two is better ;)


If a GM simply wants to kill delvers with this, ignore the prisoner room, and remove Gate 3 from the equation. The GM could make it so that the prisoner room is filled with water, that requires the delvers to shuck their armor in order to stay afloat. The room could have ledges at the edges so that the center is filled with water, but grant the prisoners a place to rest once they get out of the water. Perhaps something to offer warmth for the prisoners might do the trick. Also, if you really want to have fun? Place signs on the walls that read "Put these rings on for warmth - or die of hyperthermia - your choice". Then have the rings act as a greater geas to obey anyone with a black ring on their finger. This makes them obedient little prisoners...
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