Just had an interesting thought for a trap

[ChimericDream]

I'm curious if this is just a little bit too much of a bastard DM tactic, but what about a pit trap that is 100 ft deep with a reverse gravity trap at the bottom of it? 10d6 damage, then another 7-10d6 damage based off the caster level of the reverse gravity.... or even worse (just thought of this part), if the reverse gravity trap is set to auto-reset itself when triggered, it'd just be a loop of taking boatloads of damage every round.

Either way, this is a pretty beefy trap. Would you run your players against a trap that was similar to this?

 

[Kerrick]

It's been done, in many forms. There's actually a really nasty variant of this in one of the Grimtooth's Traps books - the 10 foot pit with reverse gravity, then the PC "falls" up through a thin wood panel on the ceiling into another space with spikes on the ceiling, whereupon another panel slides across the new opening (this one also lined with spikes); the reverse gravity turns off and the PC falls onto the spikes AGAIN for even more damage.

There's another one where the PC is shot up into another pit/tunnel in the ceiling and back down to another area (take your choice of nasty stuff to fall into).

The 1E DMG had "reverse gravity" as a gimmick in the tricks/traps listing, too.

As for yours, it would be 11d6, assuming a 10-foot ceiling over the pit - 10d6 for the 100 ft., and another 1d6 for the extra 10 ft. of the corridor before hitting the ceiling. Having the trap reset every round is just a bit too RBDM - unless you wanted really pissed off players, I wouldn't recommend it. Just have the pit close, turning off the effect (and locking the pit) for a few rounds, and the PC falls to the floor and can move away before the whole thing resets.

 

[Nifft]

My favorite is an open pit trap (above & below) with both reverse gravity in the middle and a gelatanous cube at the bottom...

DM: "You fall upwards!"
PC: "Nope, I'm flying! Ha ha ha!"
DM: "Great, make a Reflex save."
PC: "Against what?"
DM: "The gelatenous cube who just fell up into you..."

Green slime is another favorite.

Cheers, -- N