D&D 5E Indiana Jones The Last Crusade

[fba827]

Not exactly what you are asking but something to consider.
Perhaps think of a theme (7 deadly sins) - have some riddle etched near the entrance about how your spirit shall be judged and only the worthy shall find that which they seek
Then have different rooms with traps testing each of the sins. The one for greed might just have some coin but if any is touched/taken then it triggers a poison gas in the room
Have one that tests lust and there is a maiden that says she has been trapped there and seeks to just bed rescued and gets a bit amorous as incentive to leave. if she is embraced then she is revealed as a siren/harpy/etc that tries to consume the pc
have one that is a comfortable looking camp spot to take a rest - testing sloth- and if they rest there then there are spikes that come through the cot.
and so on for seven thematic traps

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The trap filled tomb did not originate in Indiana Jones, which is a homage to 1930s pulp adventures, and many of the examples in D&D predate the movies, like The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, which was published the year before Raiders. They are tapping into the same zeitgeist.

If you look at the specific traps in Last Crusade they are pretty standard. The Breath of God is a standard scything blades trap (kneel for advantage on Dex save). The Name of God is a standard hopscotch trap (for example there is one in Doctor Who: Death to the Daleks episode 3/4 in 1973). Easy to do, you just need your code word and an effect for stepping on the wrong tile. The Footsteps of God is the difficult one to do in D&D, since if the players can't see a bridge across the chasm they will probably bypass it using magic. But there are many other ways to test players' faith. But note that it is famously subverted in Tomb of Horrors, and players may be aware of that.

For clear deliberate references to Indiana Jones in 5e products, the archaeologist background in ToA is the only one I can think of.

 

[aco175]

There could be some ideas in other movies like King Solomon or Goonies. I liked the bone piano where pieces of the floor fell away when the wrong note was played. More appropriate if there is a bard in the party. You may also need to force some onto the players to get the idea.

 

[Haiku Elvis]

For my next session Im looking to have my players retrieve a holy artifact, Id like it to be guarded by some traps, much like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

"Only the Penitent man shall pass..."

Are there any modules that have good examples of this sort of thing?

G

Don't forget the full quote is
"only the penitent man who then rolls forward a bit to avoid the second blade may pass"

The last crusade ones are more focused on riddles to be solved. If that's the route focus on the clue and the solution first and you can tack something sharp/pointy/crushy at the end.

If it's pure traps to be spotted/disarmed etc. the temple at the start of Raiders is a better resource.

 

[DEFCON 1]

A 5E modules that was designed in the deathtrap dungeon style (although not as unnecessarily silly deadly as Tomb of Horrors or White Plume Mountain) is an adventure that was written by Chris Perkins and Scott Kurtz (of the webcomic PvP) for a DM tournament at PAX East a bunch of years ago called The Mines of Madness. I've run it and it I found it to be very enjoyable and fun.

Unfortunately I don't think they have it on DMs Guild for some reason, but if you go looking for it I'm sure someone has a copy.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

White Plume Mountain isn't particularly deadly, apart from the efreeti who show up at the end when the party is whacked. And that is worse in 5e because efreeti got buffed.

 

[Steampunkette]

"The Penitent Man shall pass" trap was designed to be Islamophobic 'cause Crusades.

The Penitent CHRISTIAN man kneels. The second blade spins in front of him and does nothing. (Indy rolled to make it look scarier for the audience)

The Penitent MUSLIM man genuflects, leaning forward to put his face down right where the second blade takes his head off.

If you design traps like this, where a person's knowledge of how to interact with the world and decipher the clues into actions to avoid dying to traps, you need to be aware of little details like how your players interact with such concepts. Otherwise you'll get someone who does exactly the right thing (from their experience) that gets them killed and potentially angry that the trap contradicts their life experiences.

 

[Voadam]

The Avalanche Press d20 module Doom of Odin had a great rune trap. A riddle puzzle is on the wall giving a clue about the floor full of runes ahead. Figuring out the puzzle you could identify the safe rune covered tiles to navigate without activating any. Just knowing Norse runes and their associations you could probably identify some of the bad effect ones to try and avoid. If you didn't there were still options, pushing through with your tough guy was survivable but used hp and potentially healing and coming out with some effects. Running long jump could clear a bunch of runes for less activations and damage/curse effects. Climbing walls or setting up a rope system to avoid the floor could potentially work. Dispel magic could get rid of individual runes and potentially protection from x type magic can reduce bad effects. It was possible to do the whole thing narratively based on the description with no die roll mechanics and allowed a bunch of different approaches.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yawning Portal has Tomb of Horrors. You could skip time and just tell the players they are dead and roll up new PCs though.

No version of the Tomb of Horrors since the original has really be been that dangerous to PCs.

 

[Zardnaar]

Watched it last night and enjoyed it. Way better than Crystal Skull.

Train scene was great.