101 Truly awful DM tricks

[Sejs]

21. The wizards guilds and priests temples all uniquely enchant their permanent items so that they can scry on, locate, retrieve, or send bad guy assassins (who tend to pay well for the service) straight to the PCs... in the middle of a fight. Hey, it's just business!

I actually do something similar to this normally.

Get a magic item comissioned? Particularly if it's from a wizard, it's Arcane Marked. Craftsman's seal, that sort of thing, you know. So folks in the business will know who made that fine looking cloak you've got on, and suchlike.

Of course it also means that generally speaking I can find you without much difficulty should I ever need to, but we'll just gloss over that little detail for the time being. Enjoy your item, sir.

 

[wmasters]

30. The Shill: One of the PC's isn't really a PC, it's an NPC being played by somebody other than the GM, who is there to help railroad the party, gets special behind-the-scenes help from the GM like knowing everybody's weaknesses or blackmail information (in a political game) or is notably more powerful than the other PC's, and helps force the PC's in the direction the GM wants. (I know one DM who used to use this trick often, until his players started suspecting it in every game).

This was more or less the one I was going to add as well, and is a favourite trick of mine. So long as you don't do it often, it works a treat. For added fun, at the point just before the climatic reveal, include an NPC and drop a couple of hints about a traitor in their midst. You can't count to 10 before the innocent NPC is killed at the party's hands.

2. A beholder in a hall of mirrors. Or a medusa. Or a basilisk.

I'd rule this doesn't work - mirrors are typically used as the way to look at a medusa. In fact, I think Perseus used a mirror in the Greek legend.

 

[Montague68]

Give them easy treasure.

In one game of mine the group had some very bad luck. The monsters were critting like crazy, saving throws were being blown left and right, and the players couldn't buy a decent to-hit roll. At 6th level the players were flat broke from buying and making consumables and were low on magic items, so I gave them a break. I gave them a rumor that a band of ogres and trolls were guarding a huge treasure. Obviously thinking there was more to it than that, they go to the dungeon and it is completely straightforward - no traps, no surprises. The treasure room is defended by a few levelled trolls and ogres and they win easily and take home a relatively massive haul (which put them at maybe a tish above average for their level).

I have never seen a more paranoid group of players afterwards.

"What, that's it?"

"No traps, nothing?'

"It's too easy - there's gotta be a catch"

"Items are cursed I bet"

"Check the gold for contact poison!"

Seriously - after springing nasty surprises on them non-stop give them an easy treasure haul and watch them torture themselves waiting for the shoe to drop.

 

[sckeener]

33 I think....For my most recent rat bastard DMing, I used Arcane Mark to beautiful effect. I had a magic item leave a mark on the "thief" after stealing them.

The party was looking for some gems and the NPC that last saw them was knocked out. One of the female players started examining the jewelry on the NPC thinking that the NPC might be wearing the gems and noticed that some of it was magical...namely a nipple shield. I could not believe it when the player decided to not only take the jewelry off the friendly NPC, but put them on! She royally hated me for putting an Arcane Mark...there!

Admittedly I went a step further since the item was divine in nature and a similar meaning as a 'wedding ring' for this NPC.

Oh there was a nice story arc trying to get rid of the mark early.

 

[paradox42]

2. A beholder in a hall of mirrors. Or a medusa. Or a basilisk.

I'd rule this doesn't work - mirrors are typically used as the way to look at a medusa. In fact, I think Perseus used a mirror in the Greek legend.

Well, there is one respect in which it could work. Namely, the party sees all the images of a beholder, or medusa, or whatever, and has no real idea which one is the real one until somebody turns to stone, suddenly feels all warm and fuzzy (Charm), etc.

And for my contribution, I used this one once (it can really only work once unless the players have very short memories). Have an artificer or other serious item crafter in the party? Sooner or later, that PC is likely to be strapped for cash. Allow the PC to make items for NPCs, and thus turn a tidy profit. Have one of those NPCs be a BBEG who intends to use the item as a base for something much more powerful and sinister- a genuine evil artifact. The PCs typically won't check the backgrounds of the clients who commission items, and so when they hear about the true use of the artifact (perhaps even through such means as a paladin/other zealous agent of Good sent to slay the crafter of the thing before it can be completed), it'll be a nasty shock.

I about fell out of my chair laughing when I sprang the truth about that staff the crafter just made on my players- good thing I run an online game (my only regret is that I couldn't see the actual looks of disbelief on their faces)! It happened to be right before the priest who'd commissioned it picked it up, and when the PCs decided to set up a doublecross they were themselves doublecrossed in turn because the priest used a Miracle to switch the payment with the staff (being Lawful Evil he insisted on proper payment for the great service done for his church). Right out of the party's Portable Hole, no less. Ahh, good times...

 

[lukelightning]

Some of these won't work, or are tricks that, in my opinion, cross the line (e.g. traitorous cohort).

The mirrored halls with a beholder or medusa doesn't work: Gaze attacks don't reflect ("Looking at the creature’s image (such as in a mirror or as part of an illusion) does not subject the viewer to a gaze attack.") and rays such as the beholder's eye rays do not reflect/bounce off mirrors.

I guess the mirror trick could work with a medusa if the PCs can't tell which image to not look at.

The beholder thing wouldn't work because beholders are infamous narcissists and would stare at themselves admiring their own reflections and applying makeup.

 

[Evilhalfling]

35. villians carring babies on their chests or backs. in cute little papposes

got this from Enworld, finally using it next week.

36. have a valuable piece of artwork - with a homlecous inside, leave it for PCs to steal.
scry, and teleport - either to attack, or make off with PCs treasure storage.
alterntly use discern location on treasure that PCs have taken.

 

[sckeener]

35. villians carring babies on their chests or backs. in cute little papposes

In a way I did that, I had a pack of female gnolls in a cave defending their young from the mean ol' adventurers....the adventurers didn't use AoE spells because they didn't want to nuke the 'innocents'

 

[Corbert]

Heh ,heh. This is great stuff. I've been collecting ideas like this for a few years, here are some good ones, none of which are mine some of which I've gotten from other people posting here on ENWorld .

37. A teleporting arch that the PC's must wear the evil cleric's robes to go through. If they go through wearing the robes, no problem. If they don't, they get teleported someplace naughty (like the top of a 60' deep pit filled halfway with green slime, and anti-magic runes).

38. Room is filled to a 2-inch depth with flammable oil. Room is also filled to a 1" depth with marbles. Works well in large, open rooms with balconies for mooks to shoot flaming arrows at PCs. Add chandeliers with smoke mephits for candles for additional entertainment.

39. Replace ye old metal pit spikes with wooden ones... each containing a rot grub.

40. Superglue Door. The entire surface of this door is covered with a spell that immediately causes any organic material that comes into contact with it to stick... permanently.

41. Spike-filled pit trap that is actually a stone/iron golem. Once someone falls in, the lid slams shut, and the pit/golem rises up out of the floor to attack the rest of the party. The victim in the pit/golem takes damage each round from being thrown about and onto the spikes. If it's an iron golem, lightning damages the victim inside, fire acts as a heat metal spell (lasting 1 round/die of damage), cold as a chill metal. Victim will also run out of air eventually.

42. 20-foot long pit filled with water and a wooden bridge that spans the entire pit. Unfortunately, the center 5' section was missing so a mimic came along and connected the span. PC crosses bridge. PC sticks to mimic. PC and mimic fall into water and sink. Escaping from the mimic, fairly easy. Doing so before you invoke the drowning rules, a lot tougher.

43. If you don't have a pit trap with a locking lid that drops invaders into a pit filled by a piranha swarm modified to thrive in acid instead of water, you really can't call yourself much of an evil wizard. For extra fun, pump in a heavy poisonous gas that will sit just on top of the water, where the victims' heads will be when they're trying to breathe/scream.

44. If a Wizard lives in an underground volcanic area spread rumors of his cold lair. Illusions will help too and miscellaneous spells to make the complex seem like an ice prison. Then, when they are far enough inside, they realize their mistake. They've prepared all these fire spells and whatnot to fight against the cold creature, but they then realize that their spells have no effect against defenders immune to fire. This shouldn't be done too often, of course, but try to make sure that everyone believes the exact opposite of what the Tower is truly like.

45. Iron golems standing inside walls of fire.

46. Fill the bottom of a chasm/moat with gazillions of skeletons - to pin down and murder anyone who survives the drop. Better still, place illusionary terrain above them to hide them from sight.

47. Antimagic fields over mechanical traps - everyone hates those and it's all the better to mess up rival wizards.

48. Lie about what you're up to. Paladins and priests bothering you? Tell them that while they're fiddling around with their current quest that you've razed their temple to the ground to get back at them for messing with you. Wizard? Killed their mentor. Barbarian? Killed their tribe. If they ever press for details just project a mocking smugness back like you know everything and you just aren’t telling. Lie about how you're coming to get them. Make it sound like you're mocking them because you get off on scaring your prey before you strike yada yada yada. Let them get all worked up and ready for a fight. Then you just never show up. Do this a couple times until they start realizing you're crying wolf... then when they let their guard slip, strike. Drag off one of their number in the middle of the night without alerting anyone. Or let them wake up next to a calling card of yours that lets them know you can get to them anytime you want. Lie about your goals. You fools will never stop me in time. The sacrifice will happen at midnight and there's nothing you can do to stop me. Then, when they're planning to rush in at midnight, perform the sacrifice at around suppertime. Lie through your teeth about how you're always in their mind watching, listening, and that every single plan they make they hand to you on a silver platter. Lie about your resources. If you have 50 troops, tell them their assault is doomed to failure against your army of 500 and your cabal of blood mages. Make it seem like you're just gloating when you're in fact spreading misinformation. Lie about your personal power. Claim that you can't be killed without the shattering the Stone of Cortuga, which holds safe your fell essence and that you've hidden it where nobody could find, mwa ha ha. There is, of course, no Stone of Cortuga and never was. Definitely mix it up some. Particularly when they start to catch on that you're lying. If they expect the truth, lie. If they expect a lie, feed them the most horrible truth you can as payment for their hubris. Worse, make them think that your atrocities are their fault. They doubt you killed that village? Teleport to one, kill the residents, and let them wake up the next morning with a chain of children's severed hands hanging from each of their tents. Then telepathically gift them with the memories of you doing it.

49. Bother them when they're asleep, particular the spellcasters. Wake them up. Disrupt their rest.

50. In an adverture from the book of lairs, the PCs find an empty roadside Inn, and exploring it, willquickly find several bodies drained of blood. . There are also rooms hung with garlic and holy symbols. Even if they sleep surrounded by Holy symbols, when they wake in the morning have an NPC dead of blood loss . There is no undead, only a Slithering Tracker feeding on the PCs.

51. Plain old assassins. No confidence trick lark, just a good high-level wizard who teleports in while they're asleep and blasts the hell out of them. Or the simple high-level rogue who creeps into their room at night and slits their throats in bed.

52. Hostages. Take family members/friends hostage. Have the PCs forced to meet in a 'convenient' spot, and lay down their arms. Of course, it's a trap.

53. Corrupt Officials. Have them be attacked by some watchmen for various crimes and then try to get themselves out. Or they can attack, but then they face the whole guard establishment.

54. Animate some mouse skeletons. Strapped a caltrop onto each mouse spine. Poison it. They were directed to run under anyone's feet that came near. They use a touch attack, often on a surprise round.

55. A Rust Monster with Improved Invisibility cast on it can cause outright terror in the players, if not the characters.

56. Link some areas of a lair with underwater corridors (stairs down into water on one end, stairs up out of the water on the other end). Undead are not inconvenienced by getting wet, if they can walk out. Parties without Water Breathing available now need extra time to explore the complex- extra time to be ambushed.

 

[BullMarkOne]

57. Grapple-tastic Azer Monks on narrow bridges over pits of fire. Or hiding in walls of fire.