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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DMSage" data-source="post: 6747677" data-attributes="member: 6803552">[ATTACH]71543[/ATTACH]This article will teach you how to turn traps into exciting encounters/puzzles by themselves.In my last article I discussed why to use better traps and some of the biggest problems with traps. Make sure you read it before reading this article or you will be asking yourself why you'd put all this extra work in when you could just have a ten second trip wire trap based on a perception check (<a href="http://dmsage.com/2015/07/problems-with-traps/" target="_blank">Problems with traps</a>). Now it’s time to discuss how to make fair, high quality traps that engage and challenge players.First, a reminder of what we want our traps to accomplish:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Finding traps should not be based solely on luck/dice rolls</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Random trap searches shouldn't slow down the game</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Solutions require character’s skills, feats, and backstories to highlight character individuality and roleplay</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Players (as well as their characters) should have choices to make and puzzles to solve</li> </ul>Solving engaging traps are part player decision making, part character build, and part luck. Usually in that order.[h=2]Designing quality traps[/h]There are six steps to designing the mechanics, purpose, and solutions of a quality trap. Keep in mind that as you get better at this, you will not have to go through every single step and can instead skip to the parts you know are relevant. This guide is meant to be used as a reference. Not something you follow from start to finish every single time.[h=4]Step 1: Give the trap a story and a use.[/h]It is not enough to have a “spike trap”. Traps must be further defined in order to make them interesting. Asking yourself the following questions will help you to define your trap.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Who made it?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Who was it made to stop?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What kind of trap is it?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">How do the creators of the trap avoid triggering it?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Has this trap been triggered before?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Why use this trap in this location?</li> </ul>[h=4]Step 2: Design trap components and solution.[/h]With the basic purpose and background for the trap in place, we can proceed to designing the trap’s mechanics and solutions.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What triggers this trap?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What does the trap do when triggered?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">How is the trigger connected to the mechanism?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What mechanically or magically needs to happen to make this trap run?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What is needed to hide this trap?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What are likely ways to “solve” this trap? (avoid, disarm, safely trigger…)</li> </ul>[h=4]Step 3: Identify your starting clues[/h]The players are chasing three goblins who have a magic artifact. The goblins run across a rope bridge suspended 500 feet above lava. The lead character gives chase. Thirty feet out the weakened bridge snaps and that character falls to his death.Does that feel fair? As a DM I have a rule: “A quality trap is one that can kill my PCs and the players will not be angry about it.” In other words, the trap should have enough of an opportunity for my players to solve or avoid it that if it happens to be the cause of their death, no one will be too upset. The bridge example is completely unfair. Sure you can argue that it’s his fault for going out, but again, the players don’t see what the characters see. At this point, the player isn’t playing the game against clues or logic, instead he’s just wondering, “Is my DM a dick... enough to kill me here?”.The players are chasing three goblins who have a magic artifact. The goblins run across a rope bridge suspended 500 feet above lava. The lead character gives chase. As he runs up to the bridge he notices the ropes on both sides are completely frayed with only a few strands holding them together. The strands look as though they were cut through by dull blades. A couple of strands snap under just the weight of the goblins.This time if the player chooses to walk across the bridge, he would probably be met with four other players yelling at him, “don’t go!”. In this case if he dies, he will probably feel more stupid than mad. I am not saying this is a good trap, but it’s an example of players being given more sufficient warnings. In my opinion, these warnings should be clear and well thought out. Here are seven types of clues you can use to alert your players to danger.1. Sensory cueThis clue uses one of the five senses to show the players danger. Sight, sound, touch, smell, or taste2. Encountered previouslyShow an already triggered trap that lets the party extrapolate clues to spot a later trap.3. Emerging patternShow a series of trap types or placements that have a clear pattern for the party to recognize.4. Obvious locationThis perhaps is the one time you don't need to give a clue of the trap itself. A gold plated chest sitting on an altar is just something the party should check. Maybe give them a freebie on the first one of the campaign, but the party should know to check treasure chests, secret doors, and scroll cases without you telling them.5. Sixth senseFeeling arcane energy isn't a real sense but it can work in the fantasy context. You could also use intuition of a rogue or a dwarf’s knowledge of stone to give him a clue that something isn’t right even if they haven’t consciously identified the clue yet.6. Told or shown the locationSomeone points to the spot on a map or tells them that the front door is trapped.7. Show one trap componentShow them the trip wire but hide the spikes well. Show them the next 40 feet of floor drop out, but the lever to stop it is in another room. Show them the glistening magical field, but let them struggle to find out what it does and how to get past it.[h=4]Step 4: Identify the skill check components.[/h]This is one of the most important steps of constructing a trap. It allows you to give the players a puzzle to solve while still allowing the rogue to feel special for taking training in certain skills. In fact it will make everyone feel unique about the skills they chose.First I need to mention how skill checks work. This is a topic for an entire post itself, but it needs to be brought up here. A character in the game should have human or above human perception. Everything that is likely to be perceived should be immediately described by the DM. The obvious is not what skill checks are for. Skill checks are for noticing or figuring out the extremely difficult but possible things. Seeing the stab wound should be automatic, no skill check needed. Seeing the blackened, swollen skin around it should be automatic, no skill check needed. Determining what kind of poison was used to cause this type of wound, that isn’t something you can just see or know. That would make a great nature or medicine check. The same applies to traps. Make pieces of the trap visible to the players. If they investigate, tell them exactly what they see. Do not make players roll to use their eyes. Investigating automatically shows them what is there. This step is here to help you design the less obvious and difficult skill checks.Most of the skills you will call for will be based on the information you gathered in steps one and two. Using this information you will be coming up with a list of things the players could notice or try to do with the trap that require skill checks.One way to develop these clues and maintain each character's individuality (have to make that rogue feel special) is to differentiate amounts and types of information. A example of this is with a magic trap such as a ward. The wizard, an expert in magic, will be able to make an arcana check to try to determine the type of ward this is, what it does, and maybe even try to disarm it. He can get a direct answer and maybe even a solution. The rogue on the other hand, who is skilled in mechanical traps, but not magic ones could still make an investigation check and be rewarded for being a master of traps. In this case he will get information such as, “You can tell the trap is powered by something you can see inserted into the wall but that you cannot reach. It's not just a spell that was cast and left, this is more permanent." This really allows each character to shine in the areas they chose to maximize. The wizard gets wizardy information and the rogue gets roguey information.I will have a list of traps in the next article as examples.[h=4]Step 5: Make traps harder over time[/h]Instead of thinking of a trap as a single trap or single puzzle, all of the traps should be thought of as one giant puzzle. This allows you to "give up" a few traps as foreshadowing . You have to be okay with a few of them not getting triggered. The trade off is that you get to make your later traps much harder and deadlier, relying on the players to have picked up all of the clues and foreshadowing you’ve given them along the way. Just like any good video game doesn’t throw you at the boss to start the game, you should not throw your characters at traps that they cannot find or solve. Traps should progress in difficulty level. Here are five ways to make your traps more difficult:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Remove a clue (keep a minimum of one)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Take away a sense (too dark, too loud)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Prevent the most obvious solution (too long to jump over)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Increase the trap’s complexity</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Add an additional challenge that prevents proper solving (fight, NPC distracting them)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Add a time limit</li> </ul>[h=2]Running quality traps[/h]By now DMs should have a well planned out trap complete with parts and checks that can be made to solve it. Now it’s time to throw that trap into the game and manage it in real time as the players do unexpected things. This is the art of DMing.[h=4]Step 1: Give the clues[/h]You have to actually give the clue to the players. You can try to work it in naturally, but should always err towards being obvious. It’s better to give a clue clearly and directly. It is also important to remember that players only have the clues that you give them to work with. If you give them one clue and they can’t solve it using that clue or have one bad roll, then their leads have run dry and they have nothing else to work with and no choice but to walk right into the trap. I suggest giving them multiple clues, some with clear solutions and some more difficult. This way, when the party screws up one clue, they have two other, more difficult, leads to follow. Each time they fail at recognizing or solving a clue, the trap becomes more difficult to solve safely.Important SidebarI have to take a moment to talk about metagaming here because this is where I see it called out the most often by DMs. When a DMs makes a poor traps, such as a spike trap that the party can just walk around, and they really wants the party to interact with it, they will use “metagaming” as their tool. First, they give no clues that the trap is there, forcing the characters to hit it. But this feels unfair, so the next time the DM gives a vague clue like mapping out this section of the 50 miles of forest they were walking through to let the players know something is up. The player’s thinking: “why would he show us this 20 foot section of 50 miles of forest now? Either a fight or trap is coming.” So of course the players say, “Perception check”.Here is the metagaming cheat for the DM. If the player passes this perception check then it is okay, the DM lets them pass this trap. They see it and walk around. If the check fails, the player knows that he didn’t get a high roll and knows the DM stopped them here for a reason. The player knows there is a trap and wants to roll again or have another player check. The DM, worried that they will find every single trap if he allows this, says, “no, that’s metagaming, you are the rogue and you searched and think you did a good job. So you have to pretend like you think you did a good job.”This is a cheap trick and why I advocate making most puzzles for your players to solve, not your characters. I know it’s a role playing game, but it’s also a game. If your player solves a puzzle, then the character solves it too. Quality traps have multiple solutions, are placed in good locations, and are run well in game. This means a good DM can give away the location of almost all of his traps and still have satisfying interactions with them.Some people might be confused about giving away the trap’s location so let’s look at one example and I will give more in the next article. The party finds a gold laced chest that is locked in the boss’s chambers. The party assumes it’s trapped.Rogue: I’ll make an investigation check. (rolls a 2).DM: you search over the chest but the lid is sealed up tight so you can’t see between it. There appears to be nothing on the outside. You would guess that a chest like this is trapped but if it is, the trap mechanism must be inside it or magical.Rogue: I want to check under it to see if there is a pressure plate or somethingDM: The chest has four feet that lift it up. You can see under it, no need to roll, you are sure there is nothing under there.Rogue: I’ll take the chest into the other room where it’s safe and bring the rest of my party in.Rogue: "Hey wizard, come take a look at this."This is where most DMs would say, “metagaming! You already searched it for traps so now you just have to open it or leave it.” This is dumb.Wizard: I go over and look for traps.DM: make an investigation check.Wizard: (18)DM: You search the outside of the chest and just like the rogue see no signs of a trap trigger. However, while touching the chest you feel a soft arcane presence surge through your hand.Wizard: Arcana check (17)DM: You sense a magic ward placed around this chest that would trigger if opened.Wizard: I’ll cast dispel magic on the ward.Rogue got to figure out why he failed (because it was an arcane trap), the wizard got to feel like a badass (because he solved a trap), information was given to them freely, metagaming cheat was not used, and fun was had by all. Now the question is, how do traps ever get triggered? This is where step three comes in. But first:[h=4]Step 2: Adjudicate solutions[/h]I’m not going to write a lot in this section because there is a wonderful article on this topic already from The Angry GM called "<a href="http://theangrygm.com/adjudicate-actions-like-a-boss/" target="_blank">Adjudicate Actions Like a Motherf$&%ing Boss!</a>". I’ll just put some of the important steps here and then link to this amazing article. This process starts after the DM has described the clues to the players and they decide how their characters respond or what actions they take.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">determine exactly what they are trying to do, and how they are trying to do it</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">determine if it is possible</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">decide if it needs a dice roll or automatically fails/succeeds</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">roll dice or have players roll dice</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">decide on and describe the outcome</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">identify positive and negative consequences</li> </ul>This information is mostly summarized from the <a href="http://theangrygm.com/" target="_blank">angry GM's</a> site.. Go support his site! He is the main influence for me to make this site.[h=4]Step 3: Find other ways to trigger the trap[/h]Since this approach means a lot less traps will be triggered, we need to do some modifying of how we run them in the game. Now that we have better quality traps that are more interactive with scaling difficulties, it will be ok for players to trigger less of them because interaction with them is interesting by itself.Some traps, however, will still not be exciting if located. For example the basic rope triggering a falling spikes trap. Once the party sees it, it's solved. Now we will look for other interactions that can happen with the trap. Here are four ways for this to happen. Keep in mind that the consequences you come up with when adjudicating trap interaction will help you to identify opportunities. (for example: party left the chest on the pressure plate and decided to rest before disarming it. An angry kobold who escaped earlier sneaks back in and kicks the chest off the trigger and tries to run away)A few broad examples:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">An enemy triggers the trap</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Added layers of trap difficulty</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Players can reset or use the trap against enemies</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Distractions (it’s hard to disarm/find a trap while fighting or running away)</li> </ul>[h=4]Step 4: Adjust difficulty[/h]The last stage in the process is to adjust the difficulty of the traps. If you have a group that is just not noticing your clues, it is likely that you are making them too hard. Move away from the harder clues and give them more clear clues like “you see a wire pulled tight across the ground”. Start making your clues more visible or add in easier clues to help your players. Once they start to get the hang of it, you can adjust the difficulty back up.Here are a couple examples of traps I made using this method <a href="http://dmsage.com/2015/08/quality-traps/" target="_blank">Encounter traps</a></blockquote>

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