Help with trapmaking

[majustismp15]

I'll just put what I have on the table:
-I am playing the "World's Largest Dungeon Campaign"
-I put ranks into craft(trapmaking)
-Thusfar, I have only used it to reset a trap (unemphatic woo).

My problem is this:
In my OPINION (mind the caps, I don't know enough html to underline or italicize), the craft rules are primarary a way to explain why all of the things that needs to be built in the D&D game exist. Most things take a long time to make, especially high gp value things. Take for instance traps. They cost A LOT of gp and all work has to be done in sp. The cheapest trap is 500 gp (5000sp). It would take days.

I've taken a look at the CR 1/2 (or boobytraps) in the DMG II, and have seen the battle trapmaker PRC in Complete Scoundrel, but I guess I still need help in making the skill accessable to a low level PC like myself.

I think I understand the rules and all, but I guess I mostly need help in applying the skill. Making traps is cool and all, but I would like to see the end result of my labor sometimes.

So, without retroactively not putting ranks in the skill, how can I make best use of the craft (trapmaking) skill?

 

[Ranes]

To reset a trap you simply need 2d4 rounds and be able to make a DC 20 disable device check (PH72), though this would appear to be insufficient for complex traps.

I see craft (trap making) as being the skill you would use to create a trap from first principles, using raw materials. This would explain the cost, time and effort indicated by the skill. Once the trap has been made, to set it (which is no different than resetting it), I'd use disable device.

This is my interpretation of the rules and others may offer a different take. I haven't read the CS PrC you mention.

If you took the craft (tm) skill in my campaign, I'd see to it that there was sufficient downtime for you to engage in making traps and I'd provide clients who actually wanted them made. They could make for interesting patrons and adventures, especially as the installation of the trap would probably require you to work on-site.

 

[phindar]

Are there any hard and fast rules for the sort of traps pc's are most likely to make, things like tripwires, snares, pits or the occasional Burmese tiger trap or that falling log that Arnie got the Predator with? Because that's what I'd like to see, Ewok-level traps. Making the normal dungeon traps would be okay as a day job, but in play I'd expect it to come up more often as part of a hastily prepared ambush scenario, where the pc's only have a few hours to work in relative secret, rather than with teams of laborers over a couple of weeks.

What I'm looking for is a set DC for the crafter and the end result Spot/Search, Reflex, Balance, Esc Art and damage DC's. Has that been covered, or are we just winging it?

 

[javcs]

Well for a handy pit trap, use a portable hole, spread it out, and put an illusion over it, when somebody falls in, fold it up. Probably pretty similar to a basic pit trap.

I must agree, though, that the trapmaking rules aren't well designed for simple traps.

 

[Kerrick]

Check my sig for a new trap-creation system.

(BTW, italic in BBCode are [ i ]italics[ /i ])

 

[majustismp15]

I hadn't put too much thought into what I was going for, but I think your description works perfectly (ewok level traps). Part of the problem with the whole traps like logs swinging out and crushing foes, or pits with spikes, is that they probably would take a long time (unless you had a dedicated crew and foreman). I guess the cool savage traps are inconcievable the way they are portrayed in fiction, hence the fiction.
Thanks for your helps and sugestions (I liked the portable hole idea MWA HA HA HA). I'm currently working on some trap designs now, I'll be back soon (unless I fail the check by 5 or less, and my plans backfire!)