Treacherous Traps
5e
Undead: Reanimate Creature trap effect.
Undead Noble: ?
Undead Royalty: ?
Undead Minion: ?
Ghast: Vampiric Shrine trap.
Lich: ?
Skeleton: Life-Giving Light trap.
Hauntedwood Bowl trap.
Reanimate Creature trap effect.
Vampire: ?
Noble Vampire: ?
Powerful Noble Vampire: ?
Wight: Stewards of the Axe trap.
Wraith: ?
Zombie: Reanimate Creature trap effect.
Hauntedwood Bowl
Hybrid trap (level 1-4, perilous, harm)
This 200-foot long, sloping corridor is filled with crushed skeletons and has a locked door at its lowest end. Above the door, spelled out in a mosaic, is a simple riddle. Answering the riddle makes the skeletons reanimate; a giant skull then falls from the ceiling and starts to roll toward the door.
Trigger. Uttering the answer to the riddle while in the corridor triggers the trap.
Initiative. The trap acts on initiative 20 and 10.
Active Elements. Hauntedwood Bowl reanimates the skeletons, then drops a giant skull into the corridor which rolls toward the bottom.
Reanimate Creatures (Initiative 20). 3 skeletons animate and attack living creatures in the corridor. The trap cannot animate more than 12 skeletons at a time. If it would animate more than 12, the oldest 3 crumble to dust.
Rolling Skull (Initiative 10). The first time this element activates, a massive skull drops from a trap door in the ceiling and starts to roll down the corridor at a speed of 50 feet a round. On subsequent activations, the skull moves another 50 feet down the corridor.
Skeletons (Initiative 10). The animated skeletons move and attack living creatures in the corridor.
Constant Elements. The massive skull barreling down the corridor threatens to crush everything in its path.
Giant Skull. Each creature in the skull’s path must make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, a creature takes 10 (3d6) bludgeoning damage and is knocked prone. On a success, a creature takes half as much damage and isn’t knocked prone. Objects that block the skull, such as a conjured wall, take maximum damage from the impact.
Countermeasures. The trap’s trigger and active elements can be thwarted by particular countermeasures.
Trigger. A creature that succeeds on a DC 17 Intelligence (Investigation) check or DC 17 Wisdom (Insight) check can deduce or intuit the trigger word. A successful DC 17 Wisdom (Perception) check lets a creature notice the hidden trapdoor in the ceiling. The corridor has an aura of necromancy magic when viewed with detect magic; the mosaic has an rune of detection hidden in its design.
Reanimate Creatures. The door at the end of the corridor can be opened with a successful DC 17 Strength check, or a successful DC 17 Dexterity check using thieves’ tools. Once the door is open, the trap stops animating skeletons.
Rolling Skull. If the skull hits a barrier without destroying it, it stops. Once the skull hits the door at the lowest end of the corridor it smashes into smithereens. If it rolls out of the corridor, it crumbles to dust.
Life-Giving Light
Magic trap (level 5-8, perilous, harm)
The floor of this dark cavern is uneven, and something crunches sickeningly beneath your feet as you enter.
Trigger (Produce Light/Darkness). Bringing or producing light, non-magical or magical, into the cavern triggers the trap.
Effect (Reanimate Creatures). Light reveals the bones in this room and they begin to glow with a sickly hue, animating into 8 skeletons that attack all creatures in the cavern. The skeletons will not leave the cavern, and they stay active until reduced to 0 hit points, or until 24 hours pass, at which point they crumble to dust. The skeletons can also be dispelled with dispel magic.
Countermeasures (Difficult). A creature that succeeds on DC 17 Wisdom (Perception) finds bone fragments scattered all around the room; with a successful DC 17 Intelligence (Arcana) check, a creature can discern the fragments are remnants of animated creatures. When viewed with detect magic, the room has an aura of necromancy magic.
With a successful DC 17 spellcasting ability check, a spellcaster can disrupt the enchantment on this room. Dispel magic also disables this trap.
Stewards of the Axe
Magic trap (level 17-20, moderate, harm)
At the far end of this chamber is an anvil, glowing with a throbbing, red heat. Stuck in the anvil is a rune-engraved battleaxe. Lying around the anvil are 4 dwarf corpses in various states of death and decay.
Trigger (Draw Weapon). Pulling the battleaxe from the anvil triggers the trap. It can only be removed by a dwarf.
Effect (Reanimate Creatures). The 4 dead dwarves rise as wights and attack all other creatures in the room, focusing on the triggering creature. If the creature that pulled the battleaxe from the anvil drops it or dies, the axe magically reappears in the anvil. The wights fade into nothingness if reduced to 0 hit points, or if dispelled with dispel magic (DC 18). They do not leave the room and, if not killed, return to dormancy after 24 hours.
Countermeasures. With a successful DC 12 Intelligence (History or Religion) check, a creature can identify the anvil and understands the trap. A dwarf has advantage on this check. If viewed with detect magic, the anvil has an aura of necromancy magic.
A spellcaster can disrupt the enchantment on the anvil with a successful DC 12 spellcasting ability check, or with dispel magic.
Vampiric Shrine
Magic trap (level 5-8, dangerous, harm)
The stench of blood dripping from an altar fills the air. The scarlet liquid seems to ooze from the stone by some magical means, flowing into cracks in the floor in a constant cycle. On either side of the altar are bronze statues of humanoids with open mouths, baring long fangs.
Trigger (Corpse). Bringing a corpse within 20 feet of the altar triggers the trap.
Effect (Reanimate Creatures). The corpse that triggered the trap is animated as a ghast that attacks any creatures in the altar room. The ghast will not go farther than 40 feet from the altar. It crumbles to dust if reduced to 0 hit points or after 24 hours.
Countermeasures. A creature that succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Religion) check knows about the altar and understands the trap. The trap also has an aura of necromancy magic when viewed with detect magic.
A spellcaster that succeeds on a DC 15 spellcasting ability check can disrupt the enchantment on the altar, disabling the trap. Dispel magic can also disable the trap.
Reanimate Creatures
When the trap is triggered, it reanimates one or more dead creatures in the area to attack, block, or otherwise impede creatures. This effect requires some way to get a regular supply of dead creatures.
Like the Animate Objects effect, the reanimated creatures can be given a general command, such as to guard a particular chamber or corridor. Otherwise, the creatures mindlessly attack any other creatures in the area.
This effect could be used with a Corpse trigger; a body is brought into the area, and then reanimated when the trap goes off.
Effect. This effect turns piles of bones into skeletons or the corpses of Medium or Small humanoids into zombies. The number of creatures created depends on the trap’s lethality, as shown in the Creatures table earlier. If there aren’t enough bones or corpses in the trap’s area when it triggers, it still makes as many creatures as it can. This effect can create undead of higher CR if it’s severity allows.
Creatures reanimated by this effect stay active until reduced to 0 hit points, or until 24 hours pass, at which point they crumble to dust. The reanimated creatures will not leave the trap’s area.
