D&D 4E Traps in 4e - Mearls blog

[zoroaster100]

WOTC employee Mike Mearls posted a blog yesterday that mentioned 4e traps.
He said "I spent most of my time at the office today working on rules for traps and CENSORED. We have a basic skeleton up that does what I hope are some interesting things with traps in the game. Some of these things might seem familiar to people who have paid attention to the evolution of traps in 3e. Anyway, we'll see how these ideas pan out after the next round of playtesting."

Any thoughts as to what he means by the "evolution of traps in 3e" or what that might mean for 4e?

 

[Mouseferatu]

Any thoughts as to what he means by the "evolution of traps in 3e" or what that might mean for 4e?

I'm hoping he's referring to the "traps as encounters" rules in Dungeonscape.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I bet that's exactly what it is. That shouldn't be the default sort of trap -- a pit isn't much of an encounter, after all -- but having that in the DMG would be a great move.

 

[Mouseferatu]

a pit isn't much of an encounter, after all

Well, in 3E it's not. But remember, the definition of "encounter" seems to be changing. We've heard (IIRC) "talking your way past a city guard" and "climbing a mountain" as examples of non-combat encounters.

If the latter is an encounter, then I can see a pit as one too, albeit a very short and very low-level one.

 

[crazy_monkey1956]

Just a pit is pretty boring and I think their "encounter design" philosophy means that we won't be seeing "just a pit" anymore. We'll be seeing a pit with a floor full of snakes at the bottom, or a pit that starts filling with water with some kind of swimming critter floating around, or a pit that spontaneously animates anything that dies in it into a zombie...with lots of zombies already there to attack fallers.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Just a pit is pretty boring

They'll still be used.

and I think their "encounter design" philosophy means that we won't be seeing "just a pit" anymore. We'll be seeing a pit with a floor full of snakes at the bottom, or a pit that starts filling with water with some kind of swimming critter floating around, or a pit that spontaneously animates anything that dies in it into a zombie...with lots of zombies already there to attack fallers.

Citation?

The only place I've heard this sort of talk is from (hee hee) 3.5 grognards.

 

[crazy_monkey1956]

They'll still be used.


Citation?

The only place I've heard this sort of talk is from (hee hee) 3.5 grognards.

It was just my interpretation of what I've heard of the encounter design philosophy. Speculation only on my part.

 

[w_earle_wheeler]

pit traps are awesome

Pits are never really boring non-encounters in my games, especially at low levels. A very basic encounter, yes, but not boring.

First you have to spot the pit. Then you have to navigate over or around it. If you didn't do that, you have to avoid falling in the pit. Then, in addition to anything nasty at the bottom of the pit, you have to get back out of the pit.

If you don't gloss over it, pits can be a fun and interesting challenge for low-ish level PCs. Encumbrance, armor, use rope, climb, tumble, reflex saves, equipment choice (rope, pole, grappling hook, whatever), find traps, trap sense and spell choice (did you have feather fall or levitate ready?) all come into play.

 

[zoroaster100]

I confess I didn't buy Dungeonscape (I was already starting to think 4e might be getting near when it was published). Can you provide a general concept of what "traps as encounters" means?

 

[Mouseferatu]

In (very) brief, it's a trap that the entire party faces, and that, in many respects, functions like a monster or opponent.

For instance, a hallway with rising and falling blocks that drop or rise on a specific initiative count in the combat, while spears shoot from the walls at a different initiative count. The rogue is attempting to cross and get to a point where he can disarm the trap, while the fighter is struggling to smash through the wall where the spears are coming from, and the wizard is casting protective spells to keep the other two alive while they do so.

That's a fairly rough example, and one I just sort of pulled out of the air, but I think it gets the idea across.