Trap Ideas

[Delta]

Had an idea for some traps in the temple... Granted, it may be a little sick/twisted, but the temple already involves children being horribly murdered so this shouldn't be much of a stretch.

Instead of damaging the players and their (probably very limited) resources directly, the trap, when not taken care of properly, kills one of the children. These traps should be devised to buy the enemies some time to respond to the PCs' intrusion while they stand around thinking of ways to help the kid.
So the purpose is to incapacitate one or more of the PCs.

Few ideas:
- Something like a pressure plate that releases a guillotine or something, but only when the pressure is taken off, not when it is first applied. This way at least PC would have to remain still while the rest finds a way to disarm the trap or free the child. Meanwhile, goblins or other nasties have a chance to take pot shots at a character that can't move to cover, probably can't use Dodge, might even be flatfooted until he/she decides to move from the plate (and kill the child).
- The victim is in a cage, being killed or tortured by something nasty. Could be poison, could be some kind of pet (think piranha pit), but getting the child out of the cage should keep it alive and safe. The key or the antidote is carried by a minor boss level guard creature of some kind, who proceeds to swallow the key or break the vial if he feels threatened. Persuasion should prove useful here, if only to distract the guard while the rogue sneaks up for a backstab. An intelligent guard may even be convinced to just let the kid go in exchange for money or his life. There should be a set amount of rounds before the party is too late to save the child.

I'm not sure how many spare children there are in the temple, but there could be some kind of xp bonus for not getting any of them killed beyond the ones that are 'scripted' like the one in room 14.

Too many of these traps would diminish the horror effect, so there should only be one or two.
Maybe during the final encounter there can be a timed event along the lines of X rounds till the children die/Raask arrives/the temple collapses/Gotham City blows up...
It should at least give a break from the 'yay another dungeon with goblins, when do we get to level 2'-feel that some players might experience.

I can see how people can think this crosses a line, but with the room 14 description I think we've crossed it a while back.

A side effect of these traps is that the party will end up escorting a few children through a dangerous dungeon with enemies out to recapture them.

Anyway, I can work these encounters/traps out in further detail if needed. If not, well I have a sick mind. Sorry :P

[Niko_Kaze]

A trap I enjoy:

Door Trap -- These double doors aren't actually attacted to the wall. Instead they are fastened together and the floor underneath is dug out so the doors are balanced on a small wedge. If someone pulls the handle on either door from either direction then the door falls on him and anyone else infront of the door (the two 5'x5' squares right infront of the doors). The doors can be dodged but the DC is 15 if the doors fall on someone they take d6 damage from the weight of the door. The door pins those it falls on and it takes a DC 15 str check to move it off them.

The best use of this trap is before a room with a bunch of monsters in it that can a different door to get into and out of the room.

[Delicious_sinner]

If we're going into extremely evil traps, then here's a bitch using Delta's idea spun around to make the PCs even more horrifed. One character gets blocked off with a wal of force, a glass wall or ice, anything translucent. In this room are two children on opposite sides. Each is about to be lowered into acid, have their head cut off by a gulatine. The point isnt' the exact device, but the fact that they will not only be killed in less than one minute if nothing is done, but that if either contraption is tampered with the other instantly kills the child. The real kicker is that the child on the left is always an illusion. Have a goblin run away laughing with the cryptic message "I hope you choose what is right." Somewhat disturbing, but classic in a sense.

[Niko_Kaze]

Magic Wand with a contact poison on it could be nice too. With this being first through third level that may be a bit much of a trap though. on the other hand a detect magic spell could kill the challenge on that trap quickly as one kid will be magical and the other not. I would leave that part though, gives the PC's a chance at their level of figuring it out if they are quick witted enough, especially with the goblin clue. If you want to top it off if the PC's pick the wrong one then the real child could be automatically raised as a ghoul to attack the PC's.

[MindForge]

I have always been more for creating 'active traps' and there has got to be a post about it somewhere here at the tower but pacing the aisles it might be hard to find.

So, long ago during 2nd edition D&D I created an active trap system that made traps essentially into monsters. They had attacks, hit points and special rules that governed them. They acted during a surprise round in which a rogue could roll their trap skill with, I think I took the tens digit from the percentile (back in 2nd) and had them roll against the trap.

Now, I do it different. In 3.5 I still use traps as encounters and the ideas have evolved over time. Traps roll initiative and add their challenge rating to the roll. Everyone can roll initiative in the first surprise round - but only the rogue can act, some characters have immediate actions they can use though. Some traps are single events, some have multiple attacks and some even have multiple attacks per round. I create trigger events as part of the trap that cause them to be able to attack as free, swift, or immediate actions. Traps cannot normally attack on their own and require action from another player. Some traps can only fire off once a round - as immediate actions. Others act anytime a trigger event is met. Sometimes I get weird with trigger events like; walking on the ground in front of the trap (immediate) or being in a corridor (free) or touching door (immediate). There are infinite possibilites from picking lock to touching lock to touching chest.

The hitpoints are gauged by material for the most part.