Blog (A5E) Dungeon Delver’s Guide: It’s a Trap!

In EN Publishing’s upcoming Dungeon Delver’s Guide, we’re giving you every tool you need to build story-driven, atmospheric dungeons. And that means we have got to get traps right. Today I want to share the book’s trap-building philosophy, along with a few of the more than a hundred traps you’ll get when you Kickstart the book later this year.

Traps are a defining characteristic of dungeons. But too often, they feel like an arbitrary tax on the characters’ hit points. Done poorly, traps cause play to bog down as paranoid players poke and prod every door and passageway for unseen dangers. For these reasons, GMs and Narrators are often advised to use traps sparingly, or even steer clear of them entirely.

Dungeon Delver’s Guide: It’s a Trap! — Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (A5E)

In EN Publishing’s upcoming Dungeon Delver’s Guide, we’re giving you every tool you need to build story-driven, atmospheric dungeons. And that means we have got to get traps right.

www.levelup5e.com

 

[dave2008]

Nice write up. I wasn't planning to get this book, but the preview has pushed me a bit in that direction.

 

[Reynard]

I like it. I am looking forward to this book.

 

[Dr. Bull]

This is a great process that includes excellent detail. I like that the solutions are "pyramid tests" that outline critical failures all the way up to critical successes.

 

[Faolyn]

So, uh, when is this being kickstarted again? Asking for my wallet.

 

[Morrus]

So, uh, when is this being kickstarted again? Asking for my wallet.

Later this year. It’s written and illustrated and is in layout. Like with all our Kickstarters, the crowdfunding campaign will launch once I have the book in my hand.

 

[TwiceBorn2]

Any chance that the book will also delve into greater detail on different types of secret doors, mechanisms, etc.? I find that info lacking in 95% of published adventures and supplements.

 

[MajorSarigar]

I don't like overuse of traps, because it does exactly that: slow play down significantly due to paranoia.

I like to use traps where traps are most appropriate: to defend crypts or tombs, or the lower reaches of temples, or in areas inhabited by creatures known to prefer the use of traps and deadfalls (kobolds, bugbears, troglodytes, derro, etc). But if the dungeon is a thriving location, like a giant fortress or a hobgoblin garrison, I don't put traps there, because it doesn't make sense to put pitfalls in place that would endanger the residents.

 

[Reynard]

I am recently a convert to the idea of "let them see the trap" combined with complex traps. If it's worth putting in, it's worth making an encounter out of.

 

[Morrus]

I am recently a convert to the idea of "let them see the trap" combined with complex traps. If it's worth putting in, it's worth making an encounter out of.

It's a gamechanger.

Think of it like meeting an awesome monster and the GM just says "make a save... you take 30 slashing damage" without you ever seeing the critter. That's no fun! A trap is like meeting a monster. You have to see it, or where's the game?