Help Me Trap This Temple

[Rechan]

Hmm. I think I could convert the crossbow turret trap into thorn-launching plants. Perhaps that do ongoing poison or necrotic damage, as they've been feeding on the stagnant water and corpses.

One feature I've been intending to use is a crumbling terrain; squares that disintegrate if you stand on them too long. This would be a great thing to have over a spike pit, or the stagnant water. Possibly pair the stagnant water with a lightning trap (re-skinned scythe trap). Pop in a flying harpy and boom.

I need to find a good room that compliments the corruption corpse. Either an area where the floor is on a tilt (weight put on it causes it to tilt severely, sending the character sliding towards a wall lined with spikes) and the CC on a platform slightly above the floor, or something else that would make engaging the CC in melee dangerous, but just running past it to safety would be unhelpful.

And a situation where I can use a porticulus to separate the party would be cool. An opportunity to use some sort of Abyssal-energy trap (or show the place is channeling the abyss somehow), or a Maiden's kiss-laiden area would be good.

 

[Rechan]

Ha! I think I have this rationed out, to a point.

Somewhere I need to use the portcullis trap, and on the portcullis trap is a clue: there are two keys they have to get in order to open the treasure chamber. Also, the door is located 'beneath' the keys.

Room 1: The Crumbling Floor/Water + Lightning Trap + Flying zombies room. Possibly the key here is a lightning-enchanted weapon that the trap is feeding off.

Room 2: Gas Chamber + Pits + Corruption Corpse + Plant turrets. The corruption corpse has a panel of levers beside it that controls the pits. If the PCs stand up and move through the gas quickly, the plants and zombie fire at them. If they crawl, then the zombie operates the pits. Wonder how much damage is appropriate for the gas (given level 2).

Then a room with a giant locked door. However, anyone that tries to open the giant door (even with the keys) is dropped into a sliding chute and into a small pit. Sigils start to light up through the room, it gets real hot, and it's clear that the cage down there is heating up. Plus scorched fragments of bone. Obviously they have to get the player out. But this is a trick; there's no fire, no death trap, just an illusion; the door to the treasure chamber is in the little room.

The thing I must solve:

1) Where to put the portcullis, how to incorporate it here.

2) How to conceal the treasure chamber door in the little cell, but yet provide a single clue to tip the players off.

 

[greyscale1]

Rechan, I am very disappointed in you.


I came to this thread expecting you as a PC asking for tips on trapping a sentient temple, run amok.


Instead I get this (cool, but) relatively sensible thread? Pah!


(Sorry, to tired for content, maybe tomarrow )

 

[DarkKestral]

Ha! I think I have this rationed out, to a point.

Room 2: Gas Chamber + Pits + Corruption Corpse + Plant turrets. The corruption corpse has a panel of levers beside it that controls the pits. If the PCs stand up and move through the gas quickly, the plants and zombie fire at them. If they crawl, then the zombie operates the pits. Wonder how much damage is appropriate for the gas (given level 2).

Rechan, I think the plant turrets are a bit too much.. just the zombie (even assuming it doesn't attack the PCs directly unless attacked) + gas + pits seem like they'd be enough. After all, at 2-3 damage per round per PC, already the gas would kill many low level PCs in a matter of 7-10 rounds assuming no healing surges are used. So the pits might easily have the effect of dooming the PC if they get stuck (because they'd take so much damage they'd die just from accumulated gas damage) and the zombie could potentially do a fair bit of damage before dying to the PCs if not a minion, so they might easily be in single-digits after killing the zombie. Another way to go about it would be to have it do something like 3 damage on a failed save, perhaps with a bigger bonus to the save if you hold your breath (Endurance skill) or a smaller bonus with the appropriate Heal check. Another way might be to bypass it with a Dungeoneering check, at the cost of something somewhat valuable (perhaps they destroy the gas's source, and it clears away quickly) like an alchemical item or some other expensive resource.

 

[Rechan]

Rechan, I think the plant turrets are a bit too much.. just the zombie (even assuming it doesn't attack the PCs directly unless attacked) + gas + pits seem like they'd be enough. After all, at 2-3 damage per round per PC, already the gas would kill many low level PCs in a matter of 7-10 rounds assuming no healing surges are used. So the pits might easily have the effect of dooming the PC if they get stuck (because they'd take so much damage they'd die just from accumulated gas damage)

Think of the gas like smoke: If you crawl on your hands and knees, you're safe. The only way the players take damage is if they're standing up. If they fall into a pit, they're safe from the continual damage (being very underneath the gas). The real problem is the gas poses is that it's light obscuring, so they can only see so far ahead, and that they're under fire while crawling.

Besides, the Paladin in the party has 40+ HP, and has about 10-11 healing surges (plus dwarven plate), and the other PCs have a cloak of resistance and bloodcut armor amid them. There is the potential for serious damage soaking. To put it another way, not one of my PCs have dropped to 0 yet.

What I might do is put some columns in the room, just so that they can scuttle for cover.

However. I think if the PCs kill the plant turrets, the gas should start to clear, as the gas is being produced by the plants.

 

[Rechan]

Hmm. Designing the Lightning room might be a little challenging.

What I plan on doing is taking the Pendulum Scythe trap and converting it into an electrical trap. However, the follow up attack doesn't seem right: push back, knock prone, ongoing damage 5. I don't mind the push or knockdown (great tension builder with the crumbling floor), but the ongoing is too much. I might make anyone with heavy armor take -2 to their AC, but the only person that would effect is the paladin.

The stats also say that in addition to the trap's random zap, that an enemy could control the pattern with a standard action. So I'm debating putting a secondary enemy - a regular zombie or something - at the "controls", directing the blasts. This way the trap is much more threatening than the random bolt.

I'm also considering that anyone in the water (beneath the crumbling blocks) takes minor damage when the trap goes off, due to the electricity hitting the water.

At this point that might be too much. But my concern is that the PCs will simply rush across the room, ignore the zombie, take out the electric trap in two rounds, and then kill the flying zombie at their leisure.

 

[Zsig]

Yeah, my first thought would be to make the change the poison gas into necrotic then, not that hard to re-flavor, and mechanics-wise it's still the same as undead are resistent to necrotic.

At this point that might be too much. But my concern is that the PCs will simply rush across the room, ignore the zombie, take out the electric trap in two rounds, and then kill the flying zombie at their leisure.

That's the reason I suggested the regular zombies as they have the grab attack, which would make things interesting.

But I guess, whatever works for you and your players.

 

[Rechan]

I'm going to give this a single bump, just to see if I can get any help at this stage.