I want to make a gauntlet - and not the glove kind.

[Obryn]

Alright, so the whole "Do you pull the chain?" thread has got me thinking. First off, I'd like a chance to throw more treasure at my players' characters. Weird stuff, too. Oh, and money, as well. And traps. Oh, yes, traps.*

While this is for a 4e game, this shouldn't matter, frankly. I want to create a devious (but preferably relatively short) MAZE OF DEATH. Low-combat, high-trap, high-"just-doing-this-to-mess-with-you" factors. Classic, Tomb of Horrors-style stuff of escalating difficulty. Yeah, not entirely unlike that otherwise-execrable movie which I'd leave unnamed, did it not share the name of the game we're playing.

What sorts of things would YOU put in a short, devious dungeon such as this? They should preferably be solvable, difficult, dangerous, and not completely arbitrary.

-O



* Funny story - my players still check every single chest and door for traps despite not having a single trapped door in 17 levels' worth of play. 4e is a lot more about trapped rooms, rather than trapped locks. You know - rooms which are trying actively to kill you while a monster is trying to bite your face off. They have been conditioned well.

 

[Crothian]

The difference between arbitrary or not is a little extra work by the DM. There is bascially nothing a DM can't come up with some way of making sense.

I'd look towards Grimtooths, Traps and Treachery (1 and 2), and Lethal Lagacies. All of them have a wide variety of interesting and fun traps and obsticles.

 

[arthurhoneyhill]

Pits. So many pits.

Pits with things at the bottom, (spikes, monsters, poison mushrooms) pits with pits inside those pits. Pits with pits at the bottom with spikes and monsters at the bottom of those pits. Illusory pits. An illusory pit with a real pit right after. Room full of pits. Open a door? Spiked pit trap.

 

[Obryn]

Those are starts... Hmmmm...

I'd love to lay my hands on some Grimtooth stuff, but I have none at the moment...

-O

 

[FireLance]

Tracks and a mine cart. Let the players decide whether they want to get on. If they do, they are forced to move from one room to the other in a linear fashion.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

If you want them to run the gauntlet (or part of it anyway) put something behind them theat they need to escape. Giant stone ball rolling after them, rising tide, monsters.

 

[FireLance]

Don't forget the classic "trapped room" elements: rooms with moving walls, floor or ceilings that threaten to crush the PCs, rooms that slowly fill with sand or water, tilting floors that channel the PCs into specific areas, etc.

You should pick your monsters carefully, too. This place sounds like it should be full of lurkers, monsters that look like something else, and monsters that surprise: mimics, cloakers, gargoyles, piercers, etc.

 

[knightofround]

While it's not 4E, I'd highly recommend checking out [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Book-Challenges-Dungeon-Dungeons-Roleplaying/dp/0786926570/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278037396&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: Book of Challenges: Dungeon Rooms, Puzzles, and Traps (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying)…[/ame] for inspiration. Grimtooth's traps/treachery aren't bad, but they weren't as satisfactorily cunning as the Book of Challanges.

 

[ExploderWizard]

While it's not 4E, I'd highly recommend checking out Amazon.com: Book of Challenges: Dungeon Rooms, Puzzles, and Traps (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying)… for inspiration. Grimtooth's traps/treachery aren't bad, but they weren't as satisfactorily cunning as the Book of Challanges.

Say whaaaa!!! Nothing beats a pool of oil and ye olde flint golem.

 

[Obryn]

Don't forget the classic "trapped room" elements: rooms with moving walls, floor or ceilings that threaten to crush the PCs, rooms that slowly fill with sand or water, tilting floors that channel the PCs into specific areas, etc.

You should pick your monsters carefully, too. This place sounds like it should be full of lurkers, monsters that look like something else, and monsters that surprise: mimics, cloakers, gargoyles, piercers, etc.

Oh, that is exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for. Any specific ideas?

-O