101 Clever D&D Traps and Trap Ideas
Looking for ideas for some Dungeons and Dragons traps your players will love? We’re compiling a list of 101 clever D&D trap ideas right here and we need your help! Give us your best creative, clever, evil and downright diabolical trap ideas and we’ll compile them all right here in this post as well as enter them all in our shared D&D traps tool (over 40 are available right now for members).
What Makes a Good D&D Trap?
Great traps build up tension just before the trap springs. They create action as the character tries to escape. They are difficult and require a creative solution to escape without bringing the game to a grinding halt. Instead, they make sense in moving the adventure forward.
How to Post Your Trap Idea
Simply post a comment at the bottom of this post. You can either simply post a description or use the format below:
Trap Name:
Level:
Role:
Type:
XP:
Quick Description:
Full Description:
Perceptions DC:
Perceptions Success:
Additional Skills:
Additional Skills DC:
Additional Skills Success:
Trigger:
Action Type:
Attack Type:
Target:
Attack Roll:
Hit:
Aftereffect:
Miss:
Countermeasures:
Lets Get It Started with the First Trap Idea Straight from the DM Tools
Trap Idea #1: Raging Silver Fire
- Level 15 Lurker – XP 850
- A glowing circle of runes on the ground tempts the victim. Unfortunately, when activated, only being INSIDE the circle protects one from the ensuing blast. A raging inferno of Silver Fire erupts in the room, damaging all occupants not inside the glowing cirlce of runes.
- Perception
- DC 10: Notice the glowing blue runes in a circle on the floor.
- DC 25: Recognize the runes as a protective ward.
- DC 30: Sense the perimeter of the room is beginning to flare up.
- Acrobatics
- DC 15: If attempting to vault into protective circle, chance on making it before ward activates.
- Trigger: Within 15 seconds of entering the room.
- Attack: standard•Area of effect + 15 vs. Endurance
- Hit: 2d10+10 initial fire damage and has a (25% – Level of magic item) chance of detonating item, causing item level x 10 damage.
- Aftereffect: 1d10 ongoing fire damage until save ends.
- Miss: 1d10 fire damage.
- Countermeasure: Stepping into protective circle of runes.
Trap Name: Book of Souls
Setup: the characters enter a room with a grand lectern in the centre. The rest of the room should probably look very shabby by comparison. An ancient but fancy tome rests open on the lectern.
Trigger: when a character tries to read the book, he/she is instantly transformed into words, sucked inside the book, and the book closes behind him/her.
Countermeasures: the other characters must look through the book to find the trapped character. It may either be a physical description, or an image of the character formed from words (possibly both). Either way, the entire description must be read out from start to finish before the character is released.
Extra tension: throw in some monsters/villains that enter right after the trap is triggered, forcing the characters to grab the book and run for it. For added fun, put in descriptions of other trapped adventurers, or nasty monsters.
Ran this one on a few players who decided to try to be clever
Trap Name: Swivel door
Level: Depends on what the heck you put behind it
Role: Anything between a minor annoyance and a deadly doom device
Quick Description: Upon opening a door the players fall backwards
Full Description: After promoting a bit of paranoia my group decided to be clever about avoiding traps and ambushes by opening a door in such a way that they were pressed against the wall it opened towards. In a fit of adlibing I decided that the door was attached to the wall such that opening the door also opened the wall behind them revealing a slide for them to fall down. This isn’t a trap to plan into a dungeon but rather a good one to keep on hold for when players get clever
Trigger: Opening the door
Teeter Totter
Level: 10 lurker, mechanical
XP: 500
The room is a polished copper hemisphere with a 50′ radius and with a door opposite where the characters entered.
When the characters attempt to use the obvious door handle, the door they entered through slams shut and the floor unlocks.
DC 40 passive to detect alternate handle
DC 25 active
The unlocked floor can freely tilt in any direction in the sphere the characters are in. Every round the floor will tilt proportionally to the amount of weight they are off-center. (You can track this per-character weight, or just count 1 for every PC). In one round it tips 30 degrees, making movement “up” difficult terrain. The next round it slips to 60 and everyone loses their footing and slides down to the bottom. (DC 25 Acrobatics to hold onto the floor.) (DC 15 Athletics to climb on this surface.) At 90 degrees they slide into a dark, slimy hole at the bottom. (DC 35 Athletics to climb this.) (DC 30 Athletics to stop in the tunnel, +10 to the DC for each person on top of you.) (DC 45 Athletics to climb out +10 for each person on top of you.) After 2 rounds the floor levels itself, assuming no one is hanging on. The people that fell 2 rounds slip through a portal and are teleported to the top of the sphere, where they fall to the center of the floor for 1d10 damage and gain a +5 DC to holding on, as they are now covered with slime. As the floor will tilt toward anyone hanging on, it is very likely the party will slide right into them, knocking them loose.
The alternate handle easily opens the door, and there are some heavy objects located behind the door that can be used to balance the floor. The trap is reset when a door is opened using the exterior handle.
Shifting Rate:
Off by 4 to 1 or more, the floor will shift 2 positions
Off by 2 to 1 or more, the floor will shift 1 position
Balanced: 1 position toward center.
Example: (One paragraph per round)
(T) Elven Thief
(P) Dwarven Paladin
(M) Human Mage
P opens the door with T just behind and M in the rear with arms raised. The floor drops 2 positions. M and P fall while T cartwheels out of their way and holds on. P starts to climb, but just holds on, M lands on P’s head. T climbs toward the center (but didn’t make it).
Floor shifts 1 position to 90 degrees and P and M fall in. T just hangs on. P would have make the climb check, but M is still sitting on his head.
T climbs to the center, M and P fall.
Floor rights to 60 degrees. T is just about to stand up when P and M appear above, covered in black slime. They fall, taking 1d10 damage each. They slam in to T, knocking him loose and they all slide to the edge.
The floor tilts to 90 degrees, and they all fall in.
Floor tilts to 60 degrees and they fall.
Floor tilts to 30 degrees and they all land in the center, BALANCED, but taking 1d10 damage each.
They all stand up, T edges toward the exit, P away. M stays still.
When P is halfway across the room, T is at the door (BALANCED). T finds the handle without assists (as noone is next to him!)
He opens the door and steps out.
The floor tips to 30 degrees. M and P run toward the door.
The floor levels. M exists, P runs toward the door. Completely unbalanced, the floor tips to 90 degrees….
The underside fills the space. Characters teleporting in at 90 degrees take no damage, but fall directly into the hole again.
Sorry… kind of rough format, but I like it.
A wooden chair trap. when the PC sits down in the chair , it quickly folds in half forcing 1d10 splinters into the legs , arms and torso, of the PC, doing 1d4 points of damage. This trap has a DC of 15, since it will be very unlikely the PC can detect the true nature of the traps as well as the splinters left behind after pulling out the initial splinters.
Jörmungandr’s Offering
* Level 2 Warder – XP 125
* A large snake rising over your heads, and circling back down to bite its own tail has been carved into the wall. In a small recess under the snake ring, you see an emerald. Woe be the fool who grasps this emerald, a pressure plate under the emerald will trigger, causing the ring formed by the snake to snap down like a mousetrap on an unwitting rodent. That is when the kobolds come to see what the noise is about…
* Perception
* DC 13: Notice the ring that forms the snake does not seem to be attached to the rest of the wall.
* DC 20: Notice the pressure plate under the treasure.
* Trigger: Disturbing the treasure
* Attack: Opportunity Action: Targets all creatures adjacent to the treasure. Attack +7 vs. Reflex
* Hit: 1d8+3 damage and the target is restrained until a DC 15 Athletics check to pry the spring loaded snake-ring back is accomplished. This ends the restrained status on all characters who are affected.
* Effect: This also rings a bell in the next room, alerting the Kobolds that their trap has sprung and they should prepare for battle. Combat starts immediately.
* Countermeasure: Disturbing the treasure from afar (such as with Mage Hand) will prevent any characters from getting caught in the trap, but it will still alert the Kobolds.
Trap Name: Sword In The Clone
Level: Epic Tier
Role: lurker
Type: Trap
XP:
Quick Description: An ebil trick to play on unsuspecting players, especially in a horror or sadistic campaign.
Full Description: It is a sword in a corpse, laying off in a shadowed corner somewhere, with only a faint outline against the background. The sword duplicates itself when touched, creating another corpse off to the side. Each time the players touch the swords, the amount of corpses with swords doubles. The corpses are all different, but are not real people, they are simply created at random, male or female, but the sword is always in the center of their chest, and they are all cold to the touch. If a player touches a zombie, they come alive as level 1 minions with 8 in every stat. They have no armor, but if they come alive they pull the sword out of their chests and use it as a weapon. The swords are 1D4 damage. When a player kills a zombie, it disappears, along with the sword. They get no reward, its a trap after all! If they kill all the zombies, the trap reappears somewhere else in the dungeon(If the DM wants). If a player tries to remove a sword from an inactive zombie, they must make a DC20 check and beat 10+the characters level, versus poison. Whether they succeed or fail, the sword turns to dust and three duplicates appear.
Perception Check: Passive Perception
Perceptions Success:15 or higher
Additional Skills:
Additional Skills DC:
Additional Skills Success:
Trigger: A player touches the sword(Duplicates appear), or a player touches the corpse(turns into a zombie minion)
Action Type:Duplication is a free action, coming alive is instantaneous, but getting up and pulling the sword out is a standard action.
Attack Type:
Target:closest PC or the player that touches it(DM’s choice)
Attack Roll:
Hit:
Aftereffect:
Miss:
Trap Name: Lightning Vines
Type: Illusion
Description:
The party walks into a room with a chest in the centre. And ivy in the 4 corners. Walking close to the chest causes the ivy to lash out and pull the PC to the roof. The ivy itself is an illusion, there is a strong magnet on the ceiling which pulls the character up, if another character gets close to the chest they are also pulled up by different ivy. Characters without any metal items are unaffected.
Once they are on the ceiling they press a large pressure pad and an electrical field surrounds them, dealing xD6 lightning damage (depending on the trap level). Attempting to hack away at the ivy in the corners causes the electricity to spread down the walls, dealing damage to any adjacent characters.
Once they have figured out how to get to the chest (possibly some inscription about enemies of nature not being allowed to access the chest) among the loot, one of the items acts as a focus for the illusion. Causing more electric vines to appear throughout the dungeon if used.
Perception Checks:
20: The PC notices the Ivy.
25: The PC notices a ring on the ceiling and on the floor surrounding the chest.
27: The PC feels his/her metal possessions shaking.
Arcana Checks:
20: The chest is rife with magic.
25: The vines are an illusion.
28: The magic emanating from the chest is illusion magic.
30: The specific focus item is identified.
Dungeoneering:
25: The ring on the ceiling is depressable.
Athletics:
25: The PC can walk out of the magnet ring and fall to the floor.
Trigger: Standing on the ring around the chest.
Target: Anyone within the ring.
Attack Roll: X vs Fort (depending on the trap level)
Effect: xD6 lightning damage and the target is grabbed/immobilised.
Miss: Half damage and the target is grabbed/immobilised.
Countermeasures: Don’t wear any metal objects.
The neurotic dungeon.
A dungeon or area of a dungeon that is sentient… and very highly strung.
A plot point you can use is that it’s the combined consciousness of many tortured and murdered victims of the dungeons antagonist or it could be the affect of an eccentric wizards long forgotten experiments.
Basically you have several rooms 9×9 configured with dormant traps and/or enemies (I’ll illustrate a scenario in a moment) but the contents of the room are ultimately the play things of the sentient dungeon. The central room houses the cause of the dungeons sentience, is circular and accessable from any of the 8 surrounding rooms.
Each room the players move to sees the dungeon taking on a different mood. For example: The first room the players enter the dungeon could be largely indifferent and treat the players with an air of dismissive irritance. The second room could see the dungeon in a manic mood, it wants to be entertained and laugh. So it could insist the players tickle a kobold that’s strapped to the table in the center of the room. Another room the dungeon could be lustful and make one of the players get intimate with a troll (keeping in mind the dungeon controls the wills of everything except the players).
As the players move from room to room the doors will lock behind them (DM’s choice on how sturdy the doors actually are)
You can choose whether the dungeons personalities move from room to room or if they’re static. (For instance, the tied up kobold could be exposed to a sadistic personality and the players will have to lacerate his legs with rusty knives instead)
The whims of the dungeon aren’t concrete however and can be manipulated through negotiation skills and charisma. The methods simply depend on the room the players are in.
The dungeon will keep the room where its essence is stored locked and hidden away unless the players can seduce their way in or negotiate their way in according to the personality of the room they occupy.
If the players get into the center room the payoff is part of the trap as well. Some potential causes and outcomes for access are:
– Broke into: Dungeon angry. Will pour all monsters from all rooms into center room.
– Seduced dungeon: Dungeon will be pleasant and amicable until the players try to leave. At which point it will lock the exit
– Negotiated a deal: For instance the dungeon will imbue a piece of equipment with magical properties on the condition that it may travel with the players within the imbued item (great plot potential).
If the players are forced to destroy the essence (or decide to because they’re mean) the fractured personalities of the dungeon will infuse itself into random pieces of the players equipment and as time goes on will assert more and more control over these pieces of equipment. Same goes for the negotiate a deal option on whichever piece the players nominate.
Successful Arcana checks:
DC25: Necomantic or enchanting magics are emenating from the center of the 9×9 cluster (so whichever wall leads to the center chamber).
Spot check:
DC30: Hidden doors in each room that lead to the center room
Negotiate:
DC25: Open a door to an adjacent room or the entry from which the players entered.
DC30: Open the door to the exit
DC35 + DM’s discretion: Open the center room.
Roll a d8 (or however many personalities you had) to determine which personality is infused into a given piece of equipment
Because the magic that defines the dungeon is so warped and chaotic it is impossible to remove the personality from the item it posses. Any attempts to dispel will disintegrate the item destroying both.
I know. That was long and it’s probably more of a dungeon feature than a trap. But I liked writing it up :)
THE TRAP THAT NATURE BUILT
This works best with a dungeon or dwarven enclave lost to history – one that the heroes have to search for. The ancient map is fragile and hard to read – apply pertinent skill checks at your discretion. History, perhaps, to read the archaic script, or a Dexterity check to avoid tearing the fragile vellum. As the party gets deeper into the mountains… let the rain start.
Foolish parties will lose the map simply by trying to read it in the rain.
More clever adventurers will venture over the rocky landscape, and find the wooded valley that holds the entrance to the dungeon. Here’s where it gets fun:
In the centuries that the place has been left abandoned, trees have grown on and over the entrance. The roots are thick and heavy and either block or wedge the stone gates shut. Worse yet, the rains continue, and the hillside appears muddy and only somewhat stable.
A Nature check can reveal that too much damage to the trees and their root system may trigger a mudslide. A Dungeoneering check can reveal that the stone archway is badly eroded, and may collapse without the support of the trees.
If there’s a Paladin or Druid in the party, feel free to have a wood nymph inhabiting one of the trees. Removing or damaging the tree will hurt this innocent nature spirit. Triggering a mudslide by attempts to tunnel around the entrance would destroy her, too. Now what?
Use your imagination to fill in the particulars, but keep the rain falling the whole time. The longer they dither about it, the more likely a mudslide becomes. There may also be a danger that someone else (Kobolds, maybe – or a dragon who lives in the forest) may deliberately trigger it, hoping to bury the party alive.
Then, of course… if they get inside… let the mud slide anyway. Hundreds of tons of mud, rock, and broken trees will follow the party into the entrance, chasing them down dark passages they haven’t had time to explore yet. Should they survive the mudflow, there’s still the fact that their only exit is gone.
Enjoy!
Oh yeah, if you choose to use the stalactites in that trap keep them light – saving throw vs. athletics/acrobatics, 1d4 falling rock damage per round. If you feel like it just clutterst the gameplay feel free to just use it for flavour text.
Trap Name: Belly Of The Beast
Level: Scale as appropriate
Role: Magic user challenge
Type: Crushing damage
XP: Scale as appropriate
Quick Description: The room is actually the hollowed-out ribcage of a fossilised dragon. Stepping on a central rune or sacred circle causes it to awaken and attack the party; only standing on the rune and psychically possessing the dragon will allow a PC to lull it back to sleep.
Full Description:
Congratulations on your decision to awaken a ten-thousand-year-old Undead Dragon! By setting foot in an unholy sanctum of Orcus you have tapped directly into the essence of an enormous and terrifying creature of ages past. Let’s hope you know what you’re doing!
If this is your first time at the necromancer-dragon rodeo, be warned that you are currently standing somewhere inside its ribcage. Each time you attempt to harness its colossal power, the dragon’s movement runs the risk of dislodging a cluster of stalactites from somewhere on the ceiling. So stay on your toes; they could land anywhere!
Wresting control of this creature ain’t easy either. Possession is a standard action, and each time you choose to do so the effort consumes one (1) healing surge through sheer mental exhaustion.
On the plus side a successful roll gives you the option of either soothing the dragon back to its eternal sleep, OR you can use the dragon’s massive talons to punch through the rock walls and into the chamber, smashing anything in a 3×4 area of your choice.
Perceptions DC: 10
Perceptions Success: PC notices the vast colonnade of ivory pillars tapering towards the ceiling, pillars are inscribed with thousands of unfamiliar hieroglyphs.
Additional Skills: Arcana, Religion, Dungeoneering
Additional Skills DC: 15
Additional Skills Success: Arcana – PC senses a strong psychic force in the room; Religion – PC recognises sigil/runes as cult of Orcus; Dungeoneering – PC notices fissures in the rock as if prone to earthquakes.
Trigger: PC touches the pillars or sets foot within the central circle.
Action Type: ?
Attack Type: Close burst crushing damage in a 3×4 area
Target: PCs and NPCs alike, PC standing within circle are unharmed
Attack Roll: +7 vs Fortitude
Hit: 1d10+4 damage, target is knocked prone
Aftereffect: N/A
Miss: half damage, target is not knocked prone
Countermeasures: PC standing on central circle/sigil who gets DC18 or better on a Wisdom/Will saving throw takes control of the dragon for one round; may choose either to attack or lull it to sleep. 3 consecutive ‘sleep’ commands are needed to disarm it completely. DM may choose to drop a Talisman of Orcus earlier in the campaign, which will give +2 to saving throws vs. Will
Additional notes: I’ve tested this trap out as an endgame, in a shrine of Orcus where the party was already facing off against a necromancer and his hordes. If inserted into an existing encounter an NPC magic user may also psychically battle the party for possession, opening up a new front in the conflict. Enjoy!
Trap Name: One Eyed Greed
Full Description: Inset to one of the skulls eye sockets (behind an expensive looking/jewel encrusted eye patch) of the skeletons sitting before the adventurers is a small ballistic device designed to project a dart into the victim of the trap. In its initial testing, most adventurers would look into the eyes of the skull directly in front of them. This would often prove to cause blindness. I guess they didn’t see the trap coming…
Perceptions DC:
DC10 to notice that the skull has been tampered with
DC15 to notice mechanism behind the skull that attaches the eyepatch to the mechanism inside.
DC25 to notice that the skull is aimed to look up at a Medium sized creatures face.
Trigger:
Taking off the eyepatch triggers the mechanism to shoot the dart directly ahead of the skulls facing direction.
Action Type: Mechanical
Attack Type: Ranged, 10ft
Target: 10ft
Attack Roll: +5
Hit: 1d6+2
Aftereffect:
Poison that causes temprorary blindness (Blind for 6 hours)
Countermeasures:
Disable Trap, Don’t take the eyepatch off from in front of the skeleton/skull.
Sorry to submit this twice but i had to fix some minor issues i forgot about.
Trap Name: Graves Revenge
Level: 2
Role: Acrobatic Challenge
Type: Touch-Trap
XP: 400
Quick Description: You’re on cemetary grounds with a bunch of graves around the PCs
Full Description: Skeletons jump up from the graves grabbing them and doing damage. They really aren’t alive but are enchanted for the trap to work.
Perceptions DC:
DC 15
DC 20
Perceptions Success:
DC 15: PCs notice that the graves have been re-dug.
DC 20: PCs notice that the graves have pressure plates on the graves that will release the skeletons
Trigger: Stepping on the pressure plate
Action Type: Immediate Reaction
Attack Type: Necrotic, Touch, Grab
Target: Target Triggering the Pressure plate
Attack Roll: +5 vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d8+2 Necrotic damage, Target is Grabbed and Immobilized(Acrobatics DC 15 Ends Grab and Immobilization)
Aftereffect: once PC has successfully ended grab and has left the pressure plate the trap resets after 1 round.
Miss: 2 Necrotic damage, Target is grabbed and Immobilized (Acrobatics DC 15 Ends grab and Immobilization)
Countermeasures:
Athletics Check (DC 20 [DC 15 with a 2 space running start]): If successful PC jumps past a grave that has a pressure plate
Trap Name: Graves Revenge
Level: 2
Role: Acrobatic Challenge
Type: Touch-Trap
XP: 400
Quick Description: You’re on cemetary grounds with a bunch of graves around the PCs
Full Description: Skeletons jump up from the graves grabbing them and doing damage. They really aren’t alive but are enchanted for the trap to work.
Perceptions DC:
DC 15
DC 20
Perceptions Success:
DC 15: PCs notice that the graves have been re-dug.
DC 20: PCs notice that the graves have pressure plates on the graves that will release the skeletons
Additional Skills:
Additional Skills DC:
Additional Skills Success:
Trigger: Stepping on the pressure plate
Action Type: Immediate Reaction
Attack Type: Necrotic, Touch, Grab
Target: Target Triggering the Pressure plate
Attack Roll: +5 vs.
Hit: 1d8+2 Necrotic damage, Target is Grabbed and Immobilized(Acrobatics DC 15 Ends Grab and Immobilization)
Aftereffect: once PC has successfully ended grab and has left the pressure plate the trap resets after 1 round.
Miss: 2 Necrotic damage, Target is grabbed and Immobilized (Acrobatics DC 15 Ends grab and Immobilization)
Countermeasures:
Athletics Check (DC 20 [DC 15 with a 2 space running start]): If successful PC jumps past a grave that has a pressure plate
This was a trap that my brother did that i really enjoyed. I am sure a seasoned DM could fill in the blanks. We did this in 4e
Trap Name: Mirrored room
Level: 3
Role: Once in, getting out
Type: Once in, getting out
XP: ??
Quick Description: The door in lockpicked and you see a room full of mirrors.
Full Description: What happened to us – We went into the room and instantly had ‘copies’ made of us. If you were evil the copy was good and vice versa. If you were neutral TWO copies were made one good, one evil. So you battled yourself. My husband was neutral and his original character was killed as well as the evil one leaving his alignment good. Everyone LOVED it.
Perceptions DC: ??
Perceptions Success: ??
Additional Skills: ??
Additional Skills DC:??
Additional Skills Success: ??
Trigger: walk into the room
Action Type: combat
Attack Type: ??
Target: ??
Attack Roll:
Hit: ??
Aftereffect: ??
Miss: ??
Countermeasures: ??
Trap Name: walls of death
Level: –
Role: thief challenge
Type: lockpicking
XP:
Quick Description:
Theif solo lockpicking trap designed to create tension as a lockpicking success is needed in 3 turns or death.
Full Description:
sorry if this gets a bit confused its a habit of mine! gave it my best shot!
Inside a chamber is a door you cannot open but on one side of this room is a small tunnel with a pit at the end. As you climb into the pit a metal grate slides across and prevents you exiting back into the chamber you came from. Inside the pit you can crawl down a straight tunnel and you notice a wall of spikes pointed towards you. Oh noes! but if you search around just as you entered the pit there is a small metal door with lock. As you start lockpicking the metal spiked wall moves slowly towards you. You have 3 attempts at lockpicking to open the door before you are crushed. Inside the metal door are 2 dials which can be used to open the aforementioned chamber door and metal grate to let the character out the pit.
Perceptions DC: easily spotted…. unavoidable.
Perceptions Success:
Trigger: first attempt at lockpicking starts moving walls
Trap Name:Living Wall
Level:25
Role:Lurker
Type:Trap
XP:
Quick Description:A sentient wall that attacks all passersby that don’t say a password
Full Description:A sentient wall that can recognize friend from foe by the use of a password. The wall will not attack anyone going out of the place, unless they touch the wall. If a PC or NPC goes inside the wall they must say the password before entering the area of the wall, otherwise the walls will slam together. the password is always on the side of the wall, just before the entry, on both ends of the wall. wall is 20′ long and as wide as the tunnel/hall.
Perceptions DC:35
Perceptions Success:player notices the wall is not built into the surrounding walls and is not attached
Additional Skills:
Additional Skills DC:
Additional Skills Success:
Trigger:stepping between the walls
Action Type:normal action
Attack Type:crushing, bludgeoning, slamming, force, whatever…
Target:any object, pc, or nps within area.
Attack Roll:automatic hit
Hit:50,000 dmg
Aftereffect:the wall retreats back to its position, awaiting new targets
Miss:only if target is out of the bounds of the trap
Countermeasures:
Trap Name: Jacob’s Sword (or other prominent Evil Wizard side kick)
Level: Any
Role: Lurker
XP: DC depends on character level
Quick Description: A magical +2 sword with better benefits. For someone else.
Full Description: Jacob’s Sword appears to be a standard +2 sword that also has a higher than normal crit. threshold. Whenever the character crits, they are given the choice of taking a -1 to AC for the next turn to add +1 to damage (up to -3/+3). Each bonus also gives the character a cumulative +1 to the Will Save that will take effect the next time they score a crit. If they don’t want to add damage, they must succeed at their WIll save. Once the Save DC is greater than 10, the character gains an even higher crit threshold, and the weapon ‘requires’ a kill each day, or the character gains a negative to their AC equal to the Save DC for the entire day. The character can go looking for a quick kill with random wildlife. Once the Save DC is greater than 20, the sword gains intelligence and requires the character to kill once per encounter (at least once a day) and bathe in the blood of the days kills once per day. If a day goes by with no encounters, random wildlife no longer counts, the encounter challenge level has to be at least -3 the character’s level. The sword deems it ok to bathe in the blood of one of the fellow adventurers.
Perceptions DC: Umm, only the fellow players get to make a save DC.
Perceptions Success: They notice the character is particularly bloodthristy.
Additional Skills:
Additional Skills DC:
Additional Skills Success:
Trigger: Critical Hits
Action Type: Will Save
Attack Type:
Target: Character wielding sword.
Attack Roll:see text
Hit:See text
Aftereffect: See text
Miss:None
Countermeasures: Remove Curse once the Sword’s DC is 5 or higher. Any lower and it does not count as a cursed item yet.
Trap Name: Mintal Coins
Level: Any
Role: Lurker (?)
Type:
XP: 100XP per coin spent or uncursed
Quick Description: Collective coins make a Will save harder and harder until finally a greedy character becomes possessed by their own greed.
Full Description:
The PCs find a gold coin with a brain emblem (or the emblem of a secret society the DM chooses). It could be stacked in with other gold coins, nothing seemingly special about it, unless Detect Magic is used, then slight Enchantment and possibly Necromancy is detected. The single coin by itself is no big deal, secretly roll a Will save with a DC of 5 each day. The bugger is this: each coin that is together (ie. on the same person) adds +2 to the save DC! Once a character has accrued enough of these to fail the save, they want to collect more until the collective consciousness of the Mintal Coins is complete, and they want to have others collect the coins so they can be overcome with the same enchantment. Only a spell capable of removing curses will allow a character to get rid of the coins (even if they have not succumbed to the effect), and the coins will ALWAYS be the remainder after purchasing equipment, or the ‘change’. You could make the character roll their Will save (-2 circumstantial to roll) whenever attempting to spend the coins to make it easier to get rid of them as long as the character is not yet enthralled.
Perceptions DC: Hard unless looking for the emblem or Detect Magic is used
Perceptions Success: Notice the coins are different
Additional Skills: Knowledge Arcana
Additional Skills DC: Hard unless the emblem is of a campaign specific group.
Additional Skills Success: Notice the coins are different.
Trigger: Each coin added to a characters stash, and each morning.
Action Type: Will Save
Attack Type:
Target: Single Character
Attack Roll:
Hit:Entrhalled
Aftereffect:Enthralled until Remove Curse or similar spell is used.
Miss:
Countermeasures: Spending the coins (see above), Dispell before the character is enthralled, Remove Curse on character effected will remove the curse, but the Will Saves begin again the next day unless the coins are removed from the person.
Trap Name: Void Life Orb
Level: 8
Role: Lurker
Type: Trap
XP: 350
Quick Description: An over-sized crystal orb similar to those used for scrying.
Full Description: While dormant the orb appears to be a large crystal ball like those used for scrying. It is large enough to occupy one square, and rests on a short mount. Once activated it glows an ominous black/ dark gray color. The orb steals life force from nearby creatures on their turn or in response to healing effects.
Perceptions DC: 20 to notice the ever so faint swirling of magic near it’s center.
Perceptions Success: The character or an ally can perform an arcana check to discern any unusual traits about the orb.
Additional Skills:Arcana
Additional Skills DC:20 to know that the orb causes negative effects and DC 25 to know how it functions.
Additional Skills Success: Knowing that the orb is bad or even what it does allows the PC’s to better avoid it
Trigger: A creature within 3 squares of the orb spends a healing surge for any reason or regains hit points for any reason.
Action Type: Immediate Interrupt: (Aura 3) Any creature that starts it’s turn within the aura or spends a healing surge in the aura loses one additional healing surge to the orb (this include the creature who activated it). If a creature has no surges left the orb instead drains hit points equal to the creatures surge value. The orb will return to dormancy one hour after it last stole any life force from a creature.
Countermeasures: The orb can be destroyed. It has AC, Fortitude, and Reflex of 20, resist damage 5 (no resistance to thunder damage though), and 40 hit points. It is immune to attacks versus Will, necrotic damage, disease, and poison. If it is destroyed the PC’s receive one of two rewards: 1. If it never activated they get XP for “disarming” the trap. 2. However, if it did activate it then it cracks open and releases a burst of energy, bloodied creatures regain their surge value in hit points and non bloodied creatures lose their surge value in hit points.
Trap Name – Magical Magnetic Floor
Level – Any
Role – None
Type – Movement Trap
Description – A ordinary room that the floor looks to be made of some sort of metal. A low humming can be heard emanating from the room.
Trigger – Step into the room while wearing metal armor.
Effect – Any PC’s that enter the room that are wearing any type of metal armor is immediately slowed while in the room and take a -2 to all attack rolls if their weapon is made of metal.
Hit – None
Countermeasures – None
After effects – All players wearing metal armor loose one healing surge when leaving the room due to the amount of effort it took to move inside the room.
Trap Name: Doppleganger Delusion
Level: any
Attack Type: You can make this an automatic effect on one PC, or you could roll an with an appropriate bonus vs Will for everyone in a blast 5 of the trigger, as desired.
Description:
Make PC(s) think that one of the others has been swapped with a doppleganger which is about to attack and kill them. However, there is no doppleganger — the person suspecting this has been deluded.
Trigger:
You can trigger this with the dying curse of a witch or a gypsy thief, or from a cursed magic item or scroll, or with magic runes which the party fails to disable, or whatever. You can make it unclear what the effect is going to be or you can give them something like “you will die at the hands of a friend”.
Effect:
One or more affected PCs are deluded into thinking that another PC is really a doppleganger. As DM you can build up some paranoia by passing notes to all the players. To the deluded PC, the note should mention that they notice something odd about one of the others — that his face or clothing looks slightly off or his voice sounds like it is changing for a moment. You can do this a few times throughout the day, increasing the warnings. At the same time, notes to other players could just say “continue role playing your character as usual… for now”. Obviously the players should not step out of character and reveal what you’ve written.
The final part should happen at a time when the affected PC would naturally think that the others are especially vulnerable — perhaps most of the party is asleep or they’ve just finished a battle and some are injured.
At this point, unless the deluded PC has already taken violent or other entertaining action against the “doppleganger”: roll a d20, consult your notes carefully, and tell him that he’s identified the threat as a doppleganger (and explain what that is if needed) — and that it has now dropped its disguise, drawn a weapon, and is about to attack an unsuspecting and defenseless comrad.
Give the deluded PC priority in initiative and proximity to attack the suspected “doppleganger” if you can trick him into it! If a fight begins, you can further escalate it by having any nearby NPCs jump in on either side, depending where their loyalties lie.
If the “doppleganger” is not killed at this point, the deluded PC will see the error in his judgement and the curse is gone. If the deluded PC manages to kill the “doppleganger” his belief is vindicated and his delusion strengthened. By the next day he will have identified yet another “doppleganger” amongst his comrads.
Trap Idea: Tipping Floor
Level 10 Lurker – XP 500
The party walks into a room with the other doorway on the opposite side and treasure in nooks on the walls to the left and right. What the players don’t know is that the floor is one big plate that hinges on the center walkway (from one door to the other), so that if anyone takes a step to either side, the floor will tip and they will fall into the pit below filled with whatever the DM chooses (spikes, Chulls, more dungeon, etc.).
Perception
DC 15: Notice the scrapes in the floor toward the sides of the room
DC 25: Notice that the floor does not quite reach all the way to the wall on either side
Insight
DC 10: That treasure looks too easy to get to. There’s something fishy here
Dungeoneering
DC 15: The floor is not as thick as it appears; there is an empty space just below the room, but not everywhere
DC 25: The masonry on the floor is fake. Well, it’s real stone, but it’s too thin, probably a facade over whatever the real floor is.
Trigger: When there is a 50 lb. or greater difference in weight between one side and the other (discounting the 5 foot wide walkway in the center)
Attack: standard•Area of effect + 10 vs. Reflex
Hit: All creatures in the room fall. Creatures on the walkway or on the side with less weight may make an Acrobatics check (DC 25) to scramble into either doorway or an Athletics check (DC20) to grab hold of and hang onto the edge of the floor. Creatures on the heavy side do not have the opportunity to make these checks.
Miss: The creature has evaded the trap, finding its way to one of the entrances to the room quick enough not to fall
Countermeasure: Avoiding the treasure entirely, evenly distributing the weight by having similarly heavy party members on each side of the room, or preventing the floor from tipping (something large enough to go from floor to ceiling, immovable rods, etc.)
Trap Idea: Deadly Corridor (naff name I know, I coudldn’t think of anything better).
Setting: an entire corridor of any length. It should be straight, with one door at each end (false/locked doors could provide extra fun).
Trigger: once the PCs enter the corridor, both doors lock tight.
Effect: once the trap triggers, a pit in the centre of the corridor opens, filled with spikes/crushers/man-eating pudding, etc. The floor starts to move, conveyor-belt style, towards the centre from both sides. There is no part of the corridor, apart from the pit itself, which is not moving.
The floor first moves at a swift walking pace. However, on the ceiling directly above the pit are three levers–two of them make the floor speed up, while the other (stuck/partly broken) slows it down. Pulling a lever multiple times compounds the effect, so you can pull the slow lever enough times to stop the floor.
Prevention: the whole thing is mechanised, so there is no chance of magical detection. However, an observant player may notice before the door is shut that the floor is not entirely solid (either plates or a flexible mesh to allow for rotation), and a very good trap-finder could see the locking mechanism in the door.
name: the trap painting.
if you look into the painting you see a green medow with roling hills and a couple of sheep grazing… BUT you need a will save to stop looking at the painting i you fail the save you are sucked in to the picture and the “grazing” sheep start attacking you with thair razorsharp teath the best part is the other pc dont know wat happend eacouse the picture didint change at all and thair fraind just dissapheard with a slyt wooshig sound YAY
sorry aboute misspell
Trap Name: Grease slide
Level: 1
Role: Obstacle/harmless
Type: Trap
XP: 100
Quick Description:
A harmless trap that disposes the target player, using a rope grease and a mechanical hidden ramp.
Full Description:
A simple trap that trips the player sending them sliding down a grease covered ramp that opens up in front of them and out a window into the waters of the nearby swamp. The ramp is build into the ground and only opens when the wire is tripped.
Perceptions DC: 15
Reflex save : 20
Trigger: walk across wire
Countermeasures:
Disable the trap or step over the wire.
Trap Name: Teleportation Maze
Level: 3
Role: Obstacle
Type: Trap
XP: 150
Quick Description: Invisible glyphs on the floor teleport others to other glyphs in the encounter’s area.
Full Description: Six glyphs (each of them numbered one through six) are each places invisibly in a square throughout the encounter area. When a target enters one of the glyphed square, it teleports to another randomly determined glyph.
Perceptions DC: The glyph is invisible and cannot be seen by the naked eye.
Additional Skills: Arcana
Additional Skills DC: 20
Additional Skills Success: The character notices the magical glyph
Trigger: A character enters into a glyphed space.
Action Type: Teleportation
Attack Type: Immediate Interrupt
Target: Creature in glyphed space
Effect: The target teleports to a randomly determined glyph by rolling 1d6. Roll again if you roll the glyphed square the target entered.
Countermeasures: A character who makes a successful Athletics check (DC 6 or DC 11 without a running start) can jump over the glyphed square.
An adjacent character can disable the glyph with a DC 25 Thievery or Arcana check.
Trap Idea: Teleporting Door
Location: Door/Walls
Trigger Type: Magical
Trigger: Closing the Door
Effect Type: Magical
Effect: This door has been enchanted so that whenever it is closed, it teleports to a different location within the dungeon, leaving behind a solid wall. The door may be set to teleport randomly, or follow a preset sequence through the dungeon. Whatever wall the teleporting door travels to will become a normal closed doorway, but will have reset upon arrival, ready to be sprung once again. Any marks or damage to the door will remain on the door when it is teleported, allowing canny PCs to keep track of the door.
Detect magic on the door will reveal transmutation (teleportation) magic of moderate power. If the door follows a preset sequence through the dungeon, the affected walls will also reveal faint transmutation (teleportation) magic while the door is not present.
The trap can be thwarted by simply preventing the door from closing or destroying the door itself. Of course, if the door is required to enter specific areas of the dungeon, either bonus areas or as part of a puzzle, alternative methods will need to be found to access these areas. Of course, there may be more than one teleporting door in the dungeon.
Trap Idea #2 Courtesy of The Net Book of Traps
Name: Double Vision
Creator: Unknown
Location type: Chest
Trigger type: mechanical
Trigger: failing to pick lock
Effect type: mechanical/magical
Effect: This trap isn’t immediately deadly, but it’s pretty sick. The trigger for this trap is failure to pick a lock. So if a PC fails their lockpicking or thievery roll, they’re greeted by a razor-sharp blade that pops out and slices off part of their finger. As soon as the fleshy bit is severed, it vanishes. This should cause some worry, and for good reason – the detached digit has actually been teleported to the tower of an evil wizard who dabbles in cloning. The finger is used to create a clone of the newly 9-fingered PC. And as we all know, clones turn up and try to destroy us at the most inopportune times. I like this one for the shock value and ensuing paranoia.