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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Iron Sky" data-source="post: 4215178" data-attributes="member: 60965">Ok, last one.  No kidding about the creativity surge it creates!Appropriate Skills: Thievery, Heal, Athletics, HistoryUnlockable Skills: Nature, PerceptionForbidden Skill: ReligionSo, this gives me the idea of some PCs searching for something in a partially overgrown jungle pyramid temple to a dark god.  They find an unconcious halfling rogue near a half-sprung, overgrown trap.  They need to get into the temple to do X(where X might be learn about this taboo god since he seems to be awakening or maybe simply find the vast treasures his priests stockpiled there).Thievery: There are several traps that are only semi functional due to the jungle growth.  They are fairly easy to find as some of them are partially sprung and can be disabled by PCs using this skill.  Some of the once-mechanical traps have now become natural too(vine-mats grown over spike-trap pits, sprung blade traps with sometimes loose vines over them that can be swung/climbed across.  Success unlocks Nature(see below).Ex. success: Player: I remove the spring from under the floor-plate and step on it tentatively.  DM: It seems to be unresponsive now.Ex. failure: Player: I remove the spring from under the floor-plate and step on it tentatively.  DM: It explodes.Heal: The halfling can be brought to conciousness using the heal skill.  Once awakened, he tells them what he knows about the temple, it's traps and treasure and points out what he knows about out of gratitude for being revived.  Success unlocks Perception(see below).Ex. success: DM: The halfling sits up and rubs the bandage on his arm before looking up at you.  "Gee, thanks, I thought I was a gonner when I heard that click.  There's always a click before they trigger, remember that."Ex. failure: DM: When you pull the halfling off of the spikes, you find that his body was the only thing keeping them from firing out of the wall and turning anyone in their path into a pincushion.Athletics: The main path of traps can be circumvented if the PCs climb the rugged back side of the pyramid to get to the top.  Alternately, there are many broken-off stone totems or columns that can be toppled into the traps to set them off before the PCs go in.Ex. success: Player: I tip over one of the totems into the walkway ahead to see if I can set off the traps.  DM: It falls into the traps and takes the brunt of darts, flame bursts, and flattens a demon-wasp nest.Ex. failure: Player: I tip over one of the totems into the walkway ahead to see if I can set of the traps.  DM: It falls the wrong way, knocks you into the pit you just climbed out of, and nearly flattens the wizard.History: The temple was build by yuan-ti or tieflings or whatever a long time ago.  PCs might remember that the priests of different temples all built them in similar fashion, each trying to outdo the others in size and complexity of traps.  The PC might have heard tales about such temples or read a book about them.Ex. success: DM: You remember that the yuan-ti empire built dozens of these temples and tended to design the traps so snakelike creatures wouldn't set them off as easily...Ex. failure: DM: You remember that the yuan-ti empire built dozens of these temples and you're pretty sure you remember reading that the smaller temples like this one didn't have any traps.Nature: Studying the natural growth over the ruins helps the PCs spot traps or find clever ways to get around them.Ex. success: Player: I'll swing on a vine - Tarzan style - and see how much of the main walkway I can swing past.  DM: You manage to find a sturdy vine and swing clear most of it, putting you almost at the temple steps.Ex. failure: Player: I'll swing on a vine - Tarzan style - and see how much of the main walkway I can swing past.  DM: You manage to find a vine that holds just long enough to break and drop you into the middle of the pirhana pool.Perception: The halfling points out what to look for as signs of traps and some of the early traps he'd already identified(though he missed one obviously), helping the PCs avoid them.Ex. success: DM: You notice the pressure plates immediately once he tells you what to look for.Ex. failure: DM: You're pretty sure you see what he's pointing at.  Something about pressure plates?Religion: The dark god is so blasphemous that even reading the heiroglyphs and carvings on the temple or even looking at them too closely can make the characters ill, sick, or give them horrible visions.  Even mentioning his name is forbidden in most civilized places since saying his name gives him power.Ex. failure: You stare at the twisted runes, noticing they have the name of some god written three times in a row.  Something like 'hastor'.To succeed depends on how big the temple is.  If it's a tiny temple, in might be 4 successes before 2 failures.  If it's a huge temple it might be 8 before 4 or even more.  The PCs could possibly go from temple to temple, exploring them (and of course killing their monsters and taking their treasures).  Individual failures might partially set off traps, doing damage, or collapse part of the temple, making it more hazardous.  Individual successes might help other teammates navigate their way into the temple.I kinda like the idea of failures giving the next PC's check a penalty(so there's an immediate, noticable result, even if it's a fairly small -2) and successes giving a small-but-noticable bonus(like +2) to the next PC.Brilliant idea Asmor.Edit: Added example successes/failures.</blockquote>

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