Deadly Traps/Tomb of Horrors

[jontherev]

Well, I did something about a chessboard...

Returning
Valiant Knights
And Crafty Mages
After nights
Side by side travel together
For two ages
Until at half past eight
RULES BREAK
​

They enter through a tunnel with Deeper Darkness and Solid Fog, arriving to a black landing where a small chessboard awaits them. Further ahead lies a gigantic chessboard, with a white landing opposite to where the PCs arrived.

A creature has to position itself on the position of a cleric (crafty mages) from the red side, and other on the position of the adjacent knight (valiant knights). White figures will represent them on the small chessboard. (note: a search check DC 30 on the small chessboard will reveal the tiles to be an illusion, beneath which hides a lit coal basin).
Progression has to abide by the rules of chess, with one adittional restriction, Knight and Cleric have to be on adjacent squares (side by side they travel together) after every move by both pieces.
If the middle of the chessboard (half past eight) is crossed by half of the playing pieces after two moves (two ages) by each piece, the creatures in the room are free to exit through an opening at the white side’s wall, which starts closing, and shuts at the count of 5.

Failing to follow the rules (includes touching the white landing before the moves are completed) causes 1 Con permanent drain to all creatures within the room and returns any creature in the room the red landing.

The chessboard dissappears in an antimagic field, a river of lava rund under it.

--

Ask for clarifications if you need them. My players loved it.

That's pretty cool. I don't even know why I'm thinking about this right now...my players just turned level 3! I just like planning ahead I guess...I have a big gap between RHoD and when they have any hope of fighting the CR 25 Lich (not a demi-lich...worse) and I just thought the Tomb of Horrors would be fun and challenging for them...which is cool because I have plenty of time to tweak. My goal is not to kill the PCs though, just to provide something fun and different. Thanks.

 

[thedungeondelver]

The sphere of annihilation in the back of the true entryway into the hall? Put it under Acereack's control. If the party dallies...

Also: liberally populate the dungeon with demon guardians (not guardian demons which are an actual monster). I came up with this latter idea on-the-fly when a group at a recent Convention decided to take a snooze in the tomb to regain spells...!

 

[Celebrim]

The sphere of annihilation in the back of the true entryway into the hall? Put it under Acereack's control. If the party dallies...

Also: liberally populate the dungeon with demon guardians (not guardian demons which are an actual monster). I came up with this latter idea on-the-fly when a group at a recent Convention decided to take a snooze in the tomb to regain spells...!

If I may be so bold, both ideas rather strongly violate the design principles of the module. The point of ToH as a module is that it speedily dispatches the rash, but it can be played carefully almost independent of character skill. I'm not sure why you feel the need to end '...and the players took there time solving the puzzles of the tomb' with a '!'.

Good for them.

And if you on the fly add a challenge to a tournament module during a convention, you are cheating the players.

Also, the 'blackball' trap features in 'Return to the Tomb of Horrors'. So if the DM wanted to follow the Tomb with the City that Waits, the addition would be unwelcome.

 

[jontherev]

If I may be so bold, both ideas rather strongly violate the design principles of the module.

However...it's a great idea for me because the Lich happens to worship Orcus. Bwahahahaha!

 

[Voadam]

I've only got Traps and Treachery, but I do know there are more trap books out there.

Traps and Treachery II by FFG

Wurst of Grimtooth's Traps by Necromancer Games

Goodman Games has one, not sure of the name but it is something like World's Deadliest traps.

I remember Song and Silence by WotC having some trap stuff.

 

[thedungeondelver]

If I may be so bold, both ideas rather strongly violate the design principles of the module. The point of ToH as a module is that it speedily dispatches the rash, but it can be played carefully almost independent of character skill. I'm not sure why you feel the need to end '...and the players took there time solving the puzzles of the tomb' with a '!'.

Good for them.

And if you on the fly add a challenge to a tournament module during a convention, you are cheating the players.

That's interesting, however the module's creator didn't seem to think so, so I'll stick by my opinion on this one.

 

[thedungeondelver]

I've only got Traps and Treachery, but I do know there are more trap books out there.

Traps and Treachery II by FFG

Wurst of Grimtooth's Traps by Necromancer Games

Goodman Games has one, not sure of the name but it is something like World's Deadliest traps.

I remember Song and Silence by WotC having some trap stuff.

Since you're running a classic, if you don't already have them may I suggest the DUNGEON MASTERS GUIDE and SUPPLEMENT I: GREYHAWK as both have some very creative trap and trick notions in them as well.

 

[Celebrim]

That's interesting, however the module's creator didn't seem to think so, so I'll stick by my opinion on this one.

Well, you are free to think whatever you want. I think Mr. Gygax was being nice to a fan.

I think that if Mr. Gygax had wanted a Type V demon guarding the Tomb, he would have placed one. I further think that adding monsters to the Tomb is a direct contridiction of the introductory text he wrote to the module which suggested that the tomb was intended to be 'a thinking person's module' with 'few monsters'.

Furthermore, I note that according to the text of the module, players only encounter demons if they venture around the tomb ethereal - and even then not a Type V. There is nothing in the original text of the module that suggests sleeping in the tomb is th least bit dangerous, or even that the demi-lich rests in an active enough state to actively twart or respond to player actions in any fashion. The question then arises, why would you add a demon to a game which you had no vested interest in how it would conclude? Why did you put aside referee impartiality? What was your objective in doing so? Did you find it emotionally satisfying to put aside your referee impartiality to obtain a particular result? Seeing as the module was designed and written as a tournament module, what made you feel it was so ill-suited to play at a convention that you felt obliged to change it on the fly? How do you think that the players we'll feel, when latter on comparing notes with other players, they realize that they were cheated out of thier one fair chance to play through what is probably the game's most famous module?

Let me ask you this. If it is 'logical' that the demonic horde that gaurds the tomb from ethereal intrustion should go after sleeping characters, why stop at one? Why not 50 demons at once? Why wait until the characters are sleeping? Why not just ambush them with the whole endless horde as soon as they are inside?

 

[the black knight]

Grimtooth, Grimtooth, Grimtooth....

 

[thedungeondelver]

n/m

*plonk*