Science Fictiony Traps

I like traps. Maybe that's a symptom of my antisocial streak. It's one of the few knocks I'd level against Barrowmaze, which we're currently playing with the D&D Next playtest rules -- terrific as it is, there aren't quite enough traps to suit me, so I plan to add a few more as the characters push deeper into the catacombs. Nothing makes a thief feel underappreciated quite like never getting to spot and disarm a trap.

As a followup to the posts I did some time back on 36 Trap Triggers and 36 Trap Effects, here are 18 triggers and 36 effects for traps in science-fictiony complexes and post-apocalyptic ruins.

36 Trap Effects

Barbara Steele, trapped in The Pit
and the Pendulum, 1961

To go along with Wednesday's 36 trap triggers--36 trap effects.

1. Drop
1. Into pit
2. To lower level
3. Into fire
4. Into water
5. Into monster lair
6. Onto spikes
2. Entrap
1. Portcullis, stone block, or lock seals door
2. Cage falls around character
3. Adhesive
4. Wall of force
5. Ring of flame
6. Net or snare
3. Sharp Objects
1. Bolts or darts
2. Spears or spikes
3. Scythe
4. Needle
5. Teeth/biting object
6. Enchanted weapon
4. Crush
1. Block falls from ceiling or ceiling descends
2. Rolling boulder
3. Walls close in, wall or columns collapse
4. Sand or gravel buries characters
5. Spring in floor launches character upward
6. Grinding gears
5. Blast
1. Fire
2. Lightning
3. Poison gas
4. Flood of water, acid, ooze, or slime
5. Blinding light
6. Polymorph or antimagic ray
6. Other
1. Paralysis or petrification ray
2. Vermin or snakes
3. Trapped animal released
4. Summoned creature or entity
5. Animated object
6. Teleport

36 Trap Triggers

As a followup to Tuesday's brief primer on traps, here are 36 trap triggers for your dungeons. Tomorrow I'll offer up 36 trap effects. Combine the two and get 1 x 10^56 possible traps! Let me know when you run out, and I'll make more.

1. Active A
1. Fail to deactivate trap
2. Fail to pick lock
3. Succeed at picking lock
4. Open door or chest
5. Open door or chest wrong way
6. Close door or chest
2. Active B
1. Pick up object
2. Move lever/press button
3. Pull rope or chain
4. Shift tapestry
5. Search body
6. Tap wall or floor 
3. Passive/unintentional
1. Step on pressure plate
2. Drink poisoned or infested liquid
3. Make sound
4. Open book
5. Lose balance
6. Carry flame too close
4. Magical A
1. Step into light or shadow/hide in shadow
2. Look in mirror
3. Speak trigger word
4. Fail to speak safe word
5. Cast spell
6. Detect magic
5. Magical B
1. Read writing
2. Activate glyph
3. Draw weapon
4. Don armor, belt, gloves, robe, or other garment
5. Use magic item with command word
6. Disturb liquid
6. Strange 
1. Step through doorway frontways
2. Carry trigger object through doorway
3. Insult idol or blaspheme in its presence
4. Spill blood on floor or sacred object
5. Blow whistle or horn
6. Use wrong key

Trapping with Purpose

The trap is a D&D icon. Classic dungeons such as Tomb of Horrors and The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan are famous for their mechanical ambushes. Traps are so central to the concept of dungeons that an entire class—the thief—was developed to deal with them (along with locked doors).

In real life, of course, archaeologists have never had to deal with this abundance of traps in ancient tombs and ruins. No trap of any kind has been found in an excavation: no scything blades, no darts with pressure-plate triggers, not even poisoned needles in treasure chests. Sliding blocks have been used to seal passages but never to squash intruders. Deep pits were dug in the entrance corridors of some tombs, but they were meant only as obstacles. The pits weren’t covered, so only the most irresponsible of thieves risked falling in, and none of them left behind skeletons with broken legs. Tomb architects went to great lengths to keep people out, but no thought was given to killing them once they got in.

GMs need to put some thought into it. Before putting a death trap in that hallway, you need to ask exactly what it’s for. Designing a clever, challenging, logical, dangerous, and yet enjoyable trap is one of the toughest tests facing a GM.

(Read the rest at Kobold Quarterly. Then come back on Wednesday for a list of random trap triggers and Thursday for a list of random trap effects.)