Tharen the Damned
First Post
Szatany said:
That would be great. I hate it that the rogue simply uses 1 die roll and disarms the multipart magic/mechanic trap.
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Skills and Traps
- Thread starter MerricB
- Start date
That would be great. I hate it that the rogue simply uses 1 die roll and disarms the multipart magic/mechanic trap.
Fredrik Svanberg
First Post
Well... some traps always seemed more useful if they added something persistent to the environment rather than worked as a one-shot. Something as unoriginal as the old pressure plate would be more interesting if it wasn't all about reflex saving. How about this to spice up an encounter?
A room full of pressure plates. When someone steps on a plate an arrow shoots out from a random hole in a nearby wall. There are lots of plates but it's possible to notice them and avoid them by being careful. Movement in the room costs double if you want to avoid the plates. If you want to move faster you make a Balance check to run between the plates, or you suffer the consequences: 1d8 arrow damage for every square you move through at normal speed. Add to the fun by adding monsters who can avoid the trap or don't have to worry about the damage.
Another old standard: the rolling boulder. Make the boulder move at a certain speed along a track, say 30' per round. Characters must move faster than the boulder and overcome the obstacles in the way. A net blocks their path: cut or blast through it! A low pit filled with spikes: jump across! A chasm : climb along the wall! This is a much more interesting trap than Rolling Boulder 12d6 make reflex save for half damage since it allows people to use skills and creative thinking and abilities, and it involves everyone. A rogue could still be allowed to shine by disarming the trap on the fly, perhaps by figuring out a way to stop the boulder or make it turn into a different path.
A room full of pressure plates. When someone steps on a plate an arrow shoots out from a random hole in a nearby wall. There are lots of plates but it's possible to notice them and avoid them by being careful. Movement in the room costs double if you want to avoid the plates. If you want to move faster you make a Balance check to run between the plates, or you suffer the consequences: 1d8 arrow damage for every square you move through at normal speed. Add to the fun by adding monsters who can avoid the trap or don't have to worry about the damage.
Another old standard: the rolling boulder. Make the boulder move at a certain speed along a track, say 30' per round. Characters must move faster than the boulder and overcome the obstacles in the way. A net blocks their path: cut or blast through it! A low pit filled with spikes: jump across! A chasm : climb along the wall! This is a much more interesting trap than Rolling Boulder 12d6 make reflex save for half damage since it allows people to use skills and creative thinking and abilities, and it involves everyone. A rogue could still be allowed to shine by disarming the trap on the fly, perhaps by figuring out a way to stop the boulder or make it turn into a different path.
MarkB
Legend
I'd like to see some traps being detectable via reactive Spot checks rather than just active Search checks - and characters with Trapfinding as a class feature should gain an automatic Search check in the vicinity of a trap, just as Dwarves with Stunecunning can automatically detect unusual stonework. That will reduce the tedium of active trap searching.
Also, disabling traps should be something that calls on various skills depending upon the specific trap. I.e. a delicate mechanism will still involve the rogue, using the same skill he'd use to pick a lock - but a trap with a big, swinging pendulum blade might require a Strength check from the barbarian to disable, whilst a magical trap might be best dealt with by a Spellcraft check from a spellcaster to determine the safe order in which to erase the inscribed runes.
Also, disabling traps should be something that calls on various skills depending upon the specific trap. I.e. a delicate mechanism will still involve the rogue, using the same skill he'd use to pick a lock - but a trap with a big, swinging pendulum blade might require a Strength check from the barbarian to disable, whilst a magical trap might be best dealt with by a Spellcraft check from a spellcaster to determine the safe order in which to erase the inscribed runes.
.All I'll say, is that I hope whoever does trapfinding just gets an automatic roll whenever they are X distance from said trap. I am so tired of rogues going, I search that for traps, I search this for traps, I scrub the floor for traps, I climb on the ceiling checking for traps. Just give them an automatic roll, tell them they found something horrible they have to disable for the betterment of all mankind, and move on.
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