Creative and interesting trap thread

I would be tempted to reward the party that goes "fuck it, we throw both at once"

I'll post some more traps.
"The bear trap"
This metal ring is connected to a complex series of springs and cables. When the players step on the disc in the center, the trapdoor above them opens and a bear falls on them.

Fucking Grade-A, 100%, free-range, non-GMO, Organic EVIL.

Stealing the fuck out of it.

have three doorways, one of which has a high level illusion and the other a low level, and a third is a mimic. The doorways are disguised portals, but two of them look like a normal hallway. in reality, one flickers ever so slightly, allowing you to see the abyss. The flicker is actually the illusion of the abyss and is a normal hallway and is the high one. the other is also a portal to the abyss, but low save. The mimic is just there to distract the pcs. my pcs fell for this. Killed the mimic, ignored the high save because "obvious" and ignored the low one. they ended up locked in the abyss.

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"You both roll well. The levers are pulled at the exact same time. A bell chimes through the hallways. A slip of paper falls from the ceiling. It reads; Congratulations adventurer(s), simply burn this piece of paper to return yourself and anyone within 10 feet of you to the entrance of the dungeon!"

They step into a hall where the floor is an illusion. The real floor is about a centimetre below the illusion, maybe two. Later, once they're comfortable, pits begin appearing beneath the illusion.

Give the players a complex and difficult slide puzzle on a pedestal in a room with a huge door that's chained up and secured with a massive padlock. Door with resist all attempts to force open, no matter how hard they push.

Upon solving the slide puzzle a compartment in the pedestal opens with a small piece of paper inside. The paper reads simply "Pull". Door pulls open without issue, the chains and padlock actually superficial.

>checkered floor illusions where random sections are either normal or about 6 inches lower. if they fall into a section, they take 1 point of subdal damage.

Giant complicated chained chest shenanigan in the middle of the floor, along with an artfully locked and secured door.
The chest is a mimic, held in place by the chains
The key is on top of the lintel, where the fuck else would you put a key for a door you needed to go through every day

Tricksy jumping shenanigan on a series of slippery magic platforms over a near-bottomless underground lake amid magic winds to fuck with flying.
Some of the platforms cast Flesh to Stone on contact, dropping your stoned body into the local flooded cave system.

Or fake pits about six feet deep, so people can yell "i'm okay!" when they fit the first one. And then there are some bottomless ones.

Why is this such a common evil trap? It does literally nothing but waste real world time.

It doesn't impact characters, it doesn't put you in an interesting scenario, it doesn't change how you view the world, it doesn't even kill people.

It just wastes time.

And not even game time! It doesn't age the characters, it doesn't threaten starvation, it doesn't even promote conflict within the party as pushing the button is a reset you can do indefinitely.

It just wastes everyones real world lives.

A simple room that resembles a tavern. An Ale cask sits on top of a table with several clean mugs and chairs and a scrap of parchment.

The ale is simply ale, but it is delicious, and there is much of it. (8-10 Gallons perhaps?)

The parchment reads, "You'll find the answer to this puzzle at the bottom of this ale barrel!"

After/if they finish the cask, the front can be removed. The inside is completely empty.

However, there is a key glued underneath the table.

Delicious trap user. Totally want to steal this.

Trying to work out a way to work it into some fluff to make sense. Seems the type of thing any trickster god type cult would do. Could form part of some test or trial , or maybe the trapped spikes used to work but they're now defunct with age.

>trickster god cult

Make sure you leave a skeletal Garret in the room.

>keep the piece of paper as an emergency evac button and walk our asses out

This one is less clever and more "crush your players' souls".

Hallways with swining blades that have a clear pattern and space between many of them just large enough for a single person to stand......on top of a pressure pad that changes the pattern each time you step on them.

"Warning! Medusa head security system in place just beyond this door. Please close eyes until door is fully closed behind you."

Door actually opens to a massive pit. Feel free to phrase the warning differently, just give them a reason to walk through with their eyes closed.

A simple door made completely of Lead. It's not hinged, it's flush with the wall, but only sports a pullbar. It's also extremely heavy. Opening it requires a STR check followed by a REF check to avoid getting crushed, as it simply falls on whoevers pulling it open.

Whether there's something behind it is up to you.

what about an timed adventure? party's wasting it's most important resource at the moment

youtu.be/1q5DkiHxuEM

In that instance the puzzle becomes something. Not much, but something.

The thing that makes a lot of people think this style of room is evil is that there is no clear solution, no real present danger, and pits the parties own self preservation against them. If the party is on a timed mission, depending on its importance they would be far more likely to just "give up" and let the hourglass run down than a party with all the time in the world.

I have played in about 4 different campaigns with rooms nearly identical to this one. The first our characters were taking shifts pressing the button and sleeping while beating down the door. The DM got fed up and eventually just let us go. The second I unfortunately metagamed and we escaped, but the third happened as the scenario I described.

We were on a timed mission, I kept my mouth shut, and after 2 resets and a few perception checks, we just gave up and let the acid fill the room and were let out within 5 minutes.

And then you discover that it's just a scrap of paper enchanted to emit stinking smoke when burned

A hallway with a door at far end. Three massive enchanted locks on the door. As soon as the party enters, the door behind them disappears, the wall sprouts spikes and starts slowly moving, forcing them to run to the locked door.
Obviously, the locks are unpickable, the door won't budge. When they've wasted a bit of time and start getting panicky (the spiky wall is halfway through the room at the time), a demonic face above the door speaks up and demands three tributes in order to open.

First, a bottomless hole opens in the ground, and the demon demands a ludicrous amount of gold and gems. When they do, the one of the locks opens and falls on the ground.
Second, another bottomless hole opens in the ground, and the players are required to drop their most precious magic item in there.
Third, the demon demands one of the party members be thrown into the third bottomless hole.

Once a party rogue is pushed in or party paladin commits a tearjerking heroic sacrifice, the door disappears, demon laughs and the floor simply opens downwards... dropping the remaining party members some six feet besides their perfectly healthy sacrificed member, magic item and treasure. There's a regular door in the pit. The bottomlessness was an illusion.
Good way to force some progression in inter-party relationships.

Castle Drachenfels had a truly evil idea - contact poison on gold coins.

Put a couple hundred or thousand coins in a locked chest, behind a closed door in a room that looks like a chamber of a tax collector/alderman/whatnot. Put some arrow traps before the door/chest if you feel like it, don't make accessing the cash easy. Enjoy the tears of rage.

There's the old "give the players uranium without directly calling it that" trick

A girl with a dick

and a gun

>adventurers shrug off poison dues to being high-level guys with lots of magic and potions and what-nots
>figure the whole deal
>research an absolutely massive Mass Delay Poison spell
>go back to big city, cast the spell at the city
>spend entire fortune there
>wait a bit for money to change hands, etc.
>gather a city's worth of loot

Sounds like a plan to have people make bad puns about muppets.

Make it so that the room appears to have one safe location: only one medium sized creature can fit.

>>"It just wastes everyones real world lives."

You're getting too close to the truth user.

>adventurers shrug off poison

This is where you fucked up

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There is a difference between something that is designed to be enjoyable, something that is designed to challenge, and something that is designed to waste time. Even a roleplaying game is not a waste, hanging with friends and experiencing a story is not a waste of time. This trap is. The crux of this trap is to pit the parties self preservation instincts against their will to live. The objective of the trap is to literally make the players give up, and then they escape. Nothing is accomplished but wasted time; a better trap would remove the option to revert the hourglass entirely. Simply have the door lock, and a wall of spikes slowly move forward. The party panics, attempts to flee, but is all but thwarted by the fact that there is no stop mechanism and they do not have time to break down the door. Then right as the spikes would kill them, they stop and the door simply opens.

No time wasted, and the party is instilled with fear; the dungeon could have killed them but didn't. The architect made a conscious decision to let the intruders live, and the players recognize that the dungeon can and may kill them at any time.

Simple, effective and no bullshit hours wasted just so a bad GM can brag on a turkish jogging imageboard.

Ah, you're proposing the cooperative method of game management, utilized by DMs that get to be players every now and then.

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I'd help, but all my puzzles and traps only work because my players are idiots.

For example:
>Puzzle is a 'test-your-strength' machine with a bell at the top.
>Sign states that the door will only unlock once the bell rings.
>Barbarian figures he's gonna get this over with quickly.
>Slams hammer down on switch.
>Puck only rises halfway.
>Party buffs him, he tries again.
>Still only gets halfway.
>Drinks his only potion of Enlarge Person, applies some more buffs.
>Takes twenty
>Still only gets halfway.
>Player calls bullshit, declares puzzle impossible.
>Doesn't even try anything else.
>Have to have the wizard roll a wisdom check to realize no one said they couldn't just hit the bell with their hands.
>Wizard hits bell with his staff, door opens.

A claustrophobic tunnel that begins filling with water as the party makes way through it. But lo, a side passage opens, behind which is a staircase to the level the players want to get to. The problem is the staircase and the whole side passage are alight with magical fire, which burns flesh, but ain't extinguished by water.

The players are welcome to run up the stairs, spamming healing spells, chugging potions and cursing underbreath.

The water is enchanted - once someone becomes submerged in it, he gains ability to breath said water until he leaves it.

What about when I shatter the hourglass?

not same guy, but I'd make the hourglass an illusion

Fucking kek

I can't see how being a GM that doesn't hate his players is a cooperative venture, but I do agree that the game should be fun for both player and GM. Now to keep things in the spirit of this thread, I'll share a trap I have running for my current roll20 group.

Before session, tell the players you wish to try running the game in a strictly traditional sense; in that the GM takes care of every roll secretly.

I have the players go to explore some old forest ruins that people have been disappearing into. As they approach, a dense fog hits, and they wander into a lively hamlet. They are then sent on a quest that links into every characters goals/desires in some way, a dungeon basement with old texts that may lead to the killer of a players wife for my group. They explore the dungeon, defeating every foe easily, dodging all manner of traps and dangers without a scratch, and finding the loot they desire!

Turns out they were trapped in the mindscape of a young zygomind the entire time. A perfect replica of reality except for one quirk; the players desires become true; in essence, every single roll for them is a natural 20 critical, and every roll against them is a natural 2. Once a player/character remarks on how odd it is that everything is going too perfectly, they wake up in the real forest ruins in front of the zygomind.

It has been 3 sessions and no-body suspects a thing. I have begun adding their subconscious desires to escape as messages appearing in the world. The word PUEKAW appears in blood at many critical points, once already in a magical tome found at the heart of the dungeon, but still nothing.

I may have made a terrible mistake.

A long walkway over abyss, covered in tiles.
There's another walkway, solid stone, separated by a short chasm (can be jumped across) and a sort of magic wall that lets people through but stop all projectiles and spells dead. On that walkway there's a bunch of, say, kobolds, that say it's "safe", run all around it to prove and claim your is trapped. They are obviously gonna attack you once you get onto their side, and they look just strong enough to put up a serious fight but not strong enough to be really deadly

a party that just wants to get to the other side of the abyss would just proceed on the tiled walkway... until they hear a loud mechanical noise, followed by slow ominous screeching

now, after they leap over the chasm and kill off the kobolds, they find out that there was no trap and magic wall doesn't let them go back

both walkways lead them to same destination, but there's a nice treasure chest at the end of the tiled one.

How about a bottomless pit that swallows the person, but is enchanted to speak in the voice of the victim telling everyone that they're okay as if they just fell 10 feet in?

Brain adventures are great.

Have your corridors be long, slightly flooded, and with no ledges or rocks or anything to sit on.
Then, on the only room with benches, have them actually be mimics. Don't let them rest! Have the rest of traps cause exhaustion and slowness.

I actually really like this one.

any deadly traps instead of puzzles?

>floor of pressure plates with slightly delayed flamethrowers hidden between
>basically you run as fast as you can, with flames erupting behind you
>there's a solid stone slab between two statues ahead
>you jump on it
>it's a pressure plate too
>one statue casts Stop Time
>the other casts Orb of Annihilation centered on the slab

Most of these traps aren't interesting to the players at all. They're just DMs masturbating in the corner over how terribly clever and unconventional they think they are.

i beg to differ. once players learn DM is into that sort of puzzles, they start to look for them and it turns into a game unto itself.

You monster.

>a piece of paper with alchemical herbs wrapped in it
>when burnt and its smoke inhaled, it gives minor boosts to stats
>is addictive
>stops giving buff to stats after some time
>gives your character a slowly developing disease after a few uses that doesn't become detectable until its too late

>a construct enchanted to match a character's ideal of a perfect spouse
>tricks them into marriage
>personality completely changes after the ceremony

okay, RL allusions are fun, but let's return to more actual stuff.

bump

A sarcophagus enchanted so that the closer someone gets to it, the slower time passes for them. Basically a magitech substitute for mummification as a method for preserving the body. At the center of the enchantment's effect, despite the mummy having died centuries ago outside, inside only the equivalent of a few seconds have passed. Decay is therefore prevented. The tomb is full of adventurers who've been frozen in time, midway through wondering where the traps and/or guardian monsters they'd expected were, trying to gather up the treasure, etc. From their perspective, nothing's gone wrong and they'll be emerging soon.

I see you. When you doing your session for C2?

traps aren't very practical, are they?

I mean, how often in real life do people use traps? Even back in ancient times, it seems traps were more of a novelty.

You'd lose out on some of the treasure! Compasses are valuable contraptions!

I always liked this trap:

>There is a hole in the wall just big enough to stick one eye through and peek into the adjoining room.
>on the other end is a long board with a nail on it mounted on a hinge held up by a string.
>a goblin, kobold, or other minor critter is on the other end with a pair of scissors and cuts the rope, dropping the board down and stabbing somebody right in the eye.

Its basically everything i love about traps: simple, cunning and cruel.

How bout this?

>Dark Stairwell, hard to see
>Second to top step is mounted on a spring
>When you step on it, it depresses into the ground
>Sharp Spikes are mounted just underneath the stair and seemingly pop up through small holes in the stair

So basically, you reach the top of the stair or you start climbing down, the step sinks into the ground stabbing your foot under your own weight, then you go falling down the stairs.

Here's two of mine I cooked up for today's session:

1. You enter a chamber and the door locks behind you. The only exit is a waterfall at the end of the room.When someone passes through the waterfall, they emerge in a normal room, but they cannot pass through the waterfall again and they cannot be heard shouting through the waterfall..
There's a chest in the middle of the room. When items are dropped into it, they are destroyed.
Written on the wall is "HAND over your ARMS" in Elvish.

2. A room with a small tree on the left side of the room. On the right is a pot of dirt, a jug of water, and a bag of seeds.
On the wall it says "To know yourself, you must be in touch with nature."
Touching the tree on the left causes the door to open.

>Lavish manor or castle, partially abandoned
>Cover up a hole in the floor with a carpet
>Minor critter shoots a couple darts at the PC's
>Critter jumps over hole in the floor or sidesteps around it
>PC goes crashing through the floor

or you could have one critter skitter around a corner then hide behind a statue or secret door.

or skitter around a corner, jump the hole in the floor, then give the players the fig sign and taunt them.

So, what? You place your arms in the chest?

There's a similar one in one of the grimtooth's books I used in my party. It involved a locked room that filled with oil, and a candle suspended in the middle of the room just out of reach vertically. As the players struggle to snuff it, they increase the chance of knocking it over and lighting everything on fire.

The oil never fills up that high.

subtle realistic traps are hard to do right. You have to think with cruelty of a small child.

Well if you're sticking an eye through a hole in the wall in the first place then the assumption is that you're not particulary attached to it.
Metaphorically and literally.

>enter room
>see chest
>this is a setting with mimics
>whack the chest to be safe
>everything is fine
>open up the chest
>the room eats the party
>the room was the mimic the whole time

Eh, I prefer "the mimic was the object inside the chest" myself

There is a giant statue of a bearded norseman with one hand, with two great wolves the side of his feet. Underneath his legs is a small door, and both wolves have their maws open wide. Inside each of the wolves maws, near the very back of their throats, is a lever.

The inscription on the shield crest on the door reads, "hand of the betrayer".

Sticking your hand in either wolves mouths and pulling the lever results in the wolves mouth severing or severely maiming your arm.

The key is hung on the back of the crest, and there is a keyhole behind the crest.

no, you're just peeking into the other room. Its actually not a bad idea since it gives you a hint as to whats on the other side.

>Creative and interesting trap thread.
the door ahead is locked and in the center are three chalices, gold, silver, and bronze, filled with liquid on a pedestal, an inscription suggests that the chalices are key to unlocking the door but one or more may contain poison.

the answer is all three are poisoned, the chalice itself is the key, and the players need only to dump out it's contents and shove the correct one into the keyhole to proceed the stuff about poison is meant to be a red herring to throw them off

A couple I really want to use:

>The party finds an armory of fine steel weapons.
>A particularly fine sword/axe/etc has pride of place in the collection, locked inside a magically sealed case.
>It's enchanted with a powerful Magnetism spell that sends all the other weapons in the armory hurtling towards it.

Also:

>Hallway filled with spider webs
>Webbing is actually very thin razor wire

An absolute bastard would have the way out open when the PC raises their hands up. 'Hands' over 'Arms'.

You're encouraged to put your weapons in the chest, destroying them, but the door is already open if you're just brave enough to try it.

Creative, interezting, and convincing--the three pillars of any good trap.

Not mine, but one of my favorites:

>Party enters a room.
>There's a hole in the center of the room. Large enough for 1 crouched human.
>The door on the other side is locked.
>When entry door is closed, it locks, and the ceiling starts coming down.
>Players decide who will survive.
>Ceiling comes down so close that everyone has to lay down.
>Suddenly, it stops and retracts without killing anyone.
>Exit door clicks

add in
>spikes impale the person hiding in the hole in the center of the room
before the ceiling retracts and you have an utter bastard of a trap

That sounds like a dick move if you throw it at a party that decides together who needs to survive the most out of all of them.

On the other hand if you have the one guy who goes "fuck all y'all I ain't dying like this" and forces his way in there it's perfect.

Maybe have some kind of enchanted crystal that detects the intent of the person in the hole and only murderizes them if they aren't being selfish?

What if instead of pushing a button you have to pay money?

Holy kek that's good
Maybe put it in a Monk-themed dungeon or something

>them if they aren't being selfish?
don't you mean "selfless"?
or "are"?
because as it reads right now you are suggesting that the trap rewards douchebaggery.

or just make it one spike doing a non-fatal amount of damage and add poison to it if the person was being selfish.

Yeah, I meant if they are selfish. This is what happens when yo go back and edit a sentence without rereading afterwards I guess.

Rule #177 of the Astrogildo's Guide to Adventuring & Loitering: never touch anything in a dungeon without gloves.

Not wearing gauntlets and gloves as part of your combat gear.

Maaaybe the barbarian or monk won't be wearing gloves because their hands are literally leatherized masses of lumpy scar tissue at this point, but it takes a special kind of stupid or arrogant to go do a bunch of heavy work and labor without so much as a soft leather workglove.

Even the wizards and clerics probably has some silk or cotton embroidered opera gloves or manchettes of some sort.

Not a trap, but a riddle I came up just right now.

"An 'h' and an 's' are just what separate 2 of those things to on more. What's the thing?"

Can you solve it, adventurers?