DEX Saves, It's Trap Time
TRAPS! TRAPS! TRAPS! TRAPS! TRAPS! TRAPS!TRAPS!TRAPS! TRAPS! TRAPS! EVERYBODY~
Traps that fun little DM tool in our tool box that honestly to me feels a little bit too predictable and flat as written in the book. Alot of it comes from the fact that as DMs we are pulled in a million directions sometimes to prep for the next session and so we just grab whatever premade traps kind of fit from the book and shove them in where needed. Which I hundy p understand, I pretty much always feel like a crazy person the morning of a game session (ask my girlfriend she can attest to the running around like a headless chicken). But we actually do a large disservice to our world that we've worked so hard to build and kind of cut the legs out from our players by doing this. So I'm wanting to explain to the void of the interwebs how I approach traps and maybe include some example builds so that you can start not just dropping traps into your encounters but fully integrating them into your world.
Now as all good DMs who have been around for awhile, my system or approach to it is a amalgamations of many things. This includes (but is not limited to) - Dael Kingsmill, Matt Colville, Web DM, Matt Mercer, Talking20, some random subreddit threads I've fallen down. As well as some of my favorite mechanics from more indie systems like Questlandia and TV the RPG. Some light reading of books like 'Tips and Tricks of Trapping', 'Trapper's Bible', 'Malice Aforethought', 'Savage Empire', 'Booby Traps' and more. (I've included links where I could but if people want to add examples from the few people I couldn't find the specific link for in the comments its much appreciated!) Also, as in everything I approach, I add in my knowledge of how you would build these traps in the real world mostly so that I can bend and break those rules cause I mean its fantasy.
Using these things as a base I've gone through multiple iterations of how I prefer traps in my games which has lead me to decide that before any damages dice are decided, or mechanisms for setting them off are created, or DCs set the very first thing you need to decide comes down to - 1) Who would build this trap? and 2) To what purpose?
After asking yourself these questions for awhile you find that most traps fall into 1 of 5 broad types: those that Kill, those that Capture, those meant to Delay, those meant to Scare Off, and that weirdo in the corner the Trail of Worth traps. Now sometimes a trap might have a couple of these which you'll use to kind of guide your flavoring of danger, but 99.9999% fall somewhere under one of those. Creepy spider snare trap? Capture. Pit trap in a tomb of a Pharaoh? Kill. Stone wall that traps when a pressure plate is stepped on? Well if its to keep you from stopping a ritual before it finishes - Delay. If its to trap you into a room with no exit and maybe add in some other danger? Kill.
So you can start to see how different answers to our two questions for the same kind of trap can change the type of trap it is and therefore how we should handle it when it comes to the players. Now before we talk about some of the crunchy mechanical bits I need to talk about another aspect of traps that you pair with the type in order to ground your traps in your world through play. I'm of course talking about the lovely and much needed mode of execution. By that I mean how do your players set off of the trap and therefore how it can also be defeated. In general the four biggest ones I've found are - Lock/Key, Logic, Skill, Trigger.
Pretty self explanatory right? A lock/key trap could be an actual key for a lock or it could be a password. It just means that the trap has a very specific thing that the player needs to provide to prove to the trap that they are meant to be doing the thing they are doing. This could be setting a ruby shaped into a star in the stone mural above the altar. Literally go wild. A logic trap is kind of the classic riddle or puzzle solver that you have to correctly answer in time. This could be needing to spin the dials in a particular order based off the engraving to stop the ceiling from lowering onto your party. Or even a la Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone with a trail by potions and riddles. A skill based trap could be spotting the differences in tiles with your perception so you don't have them drop out from under you and fall to your death. It could be making an acrobatics check to smoosh your way around to not set off the darts. Or having your rogue succeed on lock picking that chest so the poison cloud doesn't puff out and TPK. Last, but not least, we have the trigger traps. Those little guys with trip wires, pressure plates, motion sensors, etc.
Right so we have our types of traps - Kill, Capture, Delay, Scare Off, Trail of Worth. We have our modes of execution for the traps - Lock/Key, Logic, Skill, Trigger. Then we have the answers to our two starting questions. You are probably thinking "Great JustKay... now what?"
Well now we build some traps, getcha some IRL...ish (cause its still a game) examples to show how we can then use these traps in a way that fills out our worlds and gives added by in for our players. We will do a few run throughs, with the crunchy mechanical bits showing, to show just what I mean by better traps are possible. Now I'm going to stop rambling on, chug this cup of caffeine and get started.
Example 1
1) Who would build this trap? A mad king in the last days of his sickness as he sunk into paranoia.
2) To what purpose? Protect his most prized treasures from those who would wish to seize the throne.
Type of trap - Kill
Mode of execution - Logic (and remember he is mad as a hatter)
You find yourself in a large underground cavern deep beneath the palace, you can tell it was hastily mad as large chunks look like they were exploded out rather then dug out. As your party enters the room a giant slab of stone drops behind you, blocking your exit. It gives off a faint blue glow and any magic used against it is reflected back at the caster. In front of the party is a low low table made of fused chunks of different stones; cluttering its top are glasses, vials, goblets, tankards, tea cups all varying in size, design, color and quality. If the party investigates the room with a DC 12 they find on the wall exactly opposite of where they came in these words embedded into the wall - "Hickory dickory dock, a thief came down to trot. He brought his tea and now his deeds will never be spoke of again. Hickory dickory dock, a bard came down to talk. She brought her mead and now she heeds never a word said. Hickory dickory dock, a wizard came down to learn. He brought his wine and now he is forever a fern. Hickory dickory dock, the fighter came down to conquer. She looked around and threw back the crown and now she wanders after." There is a goblet designed to look like the old kings crown, a history check (DC 12) can confirm it was his actual crown. Drinking from it seems to turn the drinker incorporeal and they can pass through the wall with the inscription to the next chamber. Drinking from a tea cup erases the memory of you from the world. Drinking from a tankard makes it so you do the opposite of any advice given to you. Drinking from a wine glass turns you into a plant. Drinking from any of the vials kills you, why would you do that? That's clearly where people keep poisons. They are still all trapped in the room though so eventually die.
Example 2
1) Who would build this trap? A goblin horde
2) To what purpose? Make them seem more formidable
Type of trap - Scare Off
Mode of execution - Trigger
As your party passes through the dark and narrow tunnels trip wires are set up along the corridors at different angles between the two walls. A perception check (DC 15) spots them and a DEX check (DC 10) disarms them. If triggered an illusioned cut out springs forth from the walls or ceiling, this illusion makes the cutout appear to be some sort of horrible monster but can be seen through with a WIS check (DC 12). Once the illusion pops up a poisoned dart shoots out from the spot the cut out sprung from, players make a DEX save DC 12 or take 1d4 poison damage. If the player takes poison damage they have to make a WIS save (DC 12) or be frightened.
Example 3
1) Who would build this trap? Giant spider
2) To what purpose? To catch food
Type of trap - Capture
Mode of execution - Trigger
As the party enters a dense forest covered in snow they must make perception checks (DC 12) to spot the thin white webbing stretched out between the tress at ground level. If they miss them triggering them wraps the webbing around the players feet and lifts them into the air to dangle from the branches above. The more the player struggles the more wrapped up they seem to become.
Example 4
1) Who would build this trap? A local judge
2) To what purpose? Protect the blackmail he has on people
Type of trap - Delay
Mode of execution - Skill
A large metal chest sits in the corner of the room, the lock can be picked on a successful skill check (DC 25). Each time the player fails to unlock the chest they hear a small clink sound and their pick is broken and the DC goes down by 1. The first time the player fails a small bell in the guards quarters on the ground floor goes off.
Now looking at our example traps you can see something that forms. The trap itself can tell you alot about WHO/WHAT set it, it can tell you something about the environment, and it can even give you insight into the thing that set the trap enough to maybe figure out other things. It makes the trap actually useful to the players after they've defeated it. A judge who employees that trapped chest isn't about killing people, but he is about letting other people clean up messes. They aren't about hiding the chest so maybe they keep other secrets in plain sight as well. A king who leaves mad nonsense etchings in a wall and traps people in a killing room probably has worse things in store for you the further you go in. And also maybe don't trust your logic here, BUT you do get insight into his type of logic to maybe apply later on. Or heck maybe you decide eff this crazy king and incorporeal yourself out of there back the way you came in. ( Though in the full encounter I made each layer represents his progression into madness so it gets more and more insane)
The point is that because YOU know those two small things about the powers behind the trap your traps become there own thing inside your world. They shape the world and fuse with it. They enrich it and give the players something to grasp onto rather then dodge dancing their way through them. Really that's all we as DMs are trying to do for our players, to layer on things that pull them further and further into the world we've created for them.
Before I close out this particular rant for now there is one more thing I like to do for traps. Some of my players say its to scare them, some say for drama, and I like to say cause its fun. But its more then likely a combo of all three. After someone sets a trap off I do the normal DC saves, whatever they may be. Then right before I describe what happens I have this little clicker that I'll just do a single click for. Which gives my players an IRL reaction time to try and do something before whatever this trap does happens. Sometimes they don't notice cause they are being loud, sometimes they don't react in time. It just adds another layer of play to our table which kind of brings everyone into the game a little bit more. Also great at making sure your players are paying attention.
With that little rambling over with, I’m JustKay your regular DM Dalliance on the web and I’ll see you next post.
(PS - Silver Bulette made the fair point that I didn't talk about a particular type of trap I mentioned in this post. Trail of Worth traps while not given an example for in this post are on the whole a complicated beast in themselves. But think Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail, that whole bit with him in the actual temple trying to get through all those traps to find the grail. Each of those are a Trail of Worth trap. Prove yourself and you get the shiny.)