Tell Me Your Best DM Dirty Tricks...

[Warren Okuma]

Any high wisdom monster plus monk's belt.

 

[shilsen]

Two Iron golems that grapple and a red dragon to heal them.

Nah! Two red dragons that grapple and an iron golem in a cheerleader uniform to support them. That way you get the PCs physically and do SAN damage.

Any high wisdom monster plus monk's belt.

Okay, then make that two red dragons each wearing a monk's belt.

 

[jmucchiello]

Or they get caught at ground zero in a Horseshoe Contest by Hulking Hurlers

Horses still attached.

 

[pawsplay]

Shadows lurking in walls is always good for a chuckle.

The chimera warren. They follow a gang of chimera into a cavern with five tunnels. As they attack each one, another comes up from behind at attacks. Each chimera is a different color. After a while, they whittle them down. After a moment's reflection, they notice there was no red chimera. "Maybe there just wasn't one," muses one of the players. That's when the advanced red chimera pops up to say hi.

I had one set piece that was a marilith and her wererat lieutenant at a great throne in the middle of a room. Walkways connect each wall. Below, a howling mass of dretches hoping for a tasty morsel to take a fall.

 

[darthkilmor]

A very wide pit with Darkness and Silence attached to the bottom of it. The PC's won't be able to tell how deep the pit is (even if it's 40 ft) and the silence spell will stop them from dropping rocks down to hear the distance. Then, if one of them falls in, in whatever attempt they make to cross, you can just laugh at them and have them take 4d6 falling.

There's something like this in my current game(except its just a 5x5 pit with one way to access it), the PC's lowered a captured prisoner down in the darkness to see what was down there. When he disappeared in the darkness, and then the rope starting jerking around, they pulled him up, sans lower legs eaten away from acid. Give a good guess whats hiding down there

 

[Rechan]

In my most recent game, the PCs came across four guys with tumors on their faces, all savages. They started babbling in Abyssal. Then this hooved guy, playing Bard, jumped out of hiding and started ushering them away when one of the PCs started acting tough.

The savages were infected with a Fiendish virus. Anyone who hears it must make a fort save. Failure indicates they caught the virus, and the next morning they can only speak in Abyssal, and anyone who hears them must make a fort save. As the virus sets in, it begins to grow a mind-controlling tumor that compels the infected individual to continue talking.

The barbarian and the warforged failed their saves. The WF will be a carrier.

 

[Deset Gled]

Have an entire dungeon where the floor is made entirely of "difficult terrain". Half movement everywhere, no 5' steps, penalties to Move Silently, etc. Make the ceilings very short so flying isn't very useful, either.

Try taking some hints from the old school video games that really pissed you off:

The Ghosts n Goblins torture: After having them fight through a long, difficult, grueling dungeon, have the characters suddenly "wake up" and realize the entire thing was an illusion. Then, make them go through the same dungeon for real. If you want to spice things up, change just enough minor things to make them think the final battle will be different, but don't actually change the final battle.

Repeat Spawns (original inspiration: Super Mario 2): Have a large urn, hole, or door that low level enemies crawl out of. No matter how many enemies are killed, more will come out at a regular rate. The opening must be blocked to stop the enemies.

Back to the Future Mortality, aka The Illusion of Extra Lives: For an entire extended campaign, allow the players to come back from the dead as normal. During a huge, final battle, have all death be 100% permanent. You can either tell them this when they die (to watch their faces) or tell them ahead of time and watch them squirm as they prepare for it.

 

[Voadam]

How to make an iron golem tougher, just give it a sword as the description says the creators sometimes do. It then gets iterative attacks instead of two slams.

 

[WarlockLord]

The villain de la awesome:

Changeling Telepath.
He can appear as anyone, and use his (or her) mental powers to influence anyone in power...in addition to going all psionic nova (schism + metamorphic transfer + expanded knowledge (metamorphisis) + turning into choker + quicken power +psionic meditation. 4 powers a turn! Requires a heck of a lot of feats, but...w00t!) on their asses.

 

[Robbastard]

"Mature" ratings ahead:





When I first began playing D&D, I learned of a trio of NPC characters unleashed by a fellow DM named Paul Gohman. This trio was known as "The Three B-F***ing Thieves," & each did a certain amount of damage with their "weapons."

I later adapted them to my own campaign, even giving them individual names: Sodomus, Colonus, and Anus. The only time I ever used them, I was a teenager: we had a plate of rice krispy treats at the table, & I asked the group to save one for me, because I was currently busy running an encounter. When I finally looked up from behind my screen, they were all gone. I soon learned it was my younger brother who ate the last one. Shortly thereafter, his character found himself in a Greyhawk City jail cell, where he was approached by "three shadowy figures." He never ate the last rice krispy treat again.

In the years since, I have learned a few other DMs have adapted the Thieves for their own campaigns, but they're usually reserved for threats only.