Using traps in 4e

[Obergnom]

I like to use classic traps in my adventures. Things like pits, arrow traps etc. but so far they never seemed to really fit into the game.

Do you now any examples of cool 4e encounters using these kinds of traps? (I have the HPE Series and an insider sub, anywhere in there would be great as an example... or homegrown stuff )

 

[P1NBACK]

I like to use classic traps in my adventures. Things like pits, arrow traps etc. but so far they never seemed to really fit into the game.

Do you now any examples of cool 4e encounters using these kinds of traps? (I have the HPE Series and an insider sub, anywhere in there would be great as an example... or homegrown stuff )

Kobold Hall in the back of the DMG... Keep on the Shadowfell.

 

[UniversalMonster]

There's basically two ways to do it.

You can use them in combat (and there is plenty of detail in the DMG and DMG 2 about adding a trap to a combat encounter.

But your question is really how to do it during the "investigative" or "explorative" phase of an adventure..

And to those ends, you just use skill checks.

Create each trap with a stealth stat (to show how well concealed it is). Get a marching order.. and check passive perception. Characters in the first two ranks of the marching order who "see" the trap get a chance to avoid/disarm/bypass it. Character who don't see it, blunder in.

You might also do it this way:

DM: Ok you are heading down the south hallway.. you see a series of galleries that stretch off in different directions, and a wild growth of mushrooms up ahead.

Player: We continue south.

DM: You continue on 20 more feet.. what is your passive perception?

Player: uh oh... 15?

DM: As you are walking you end up underneath a concealed grate and you are suddenly doused with oil.. followed by a flame jet!

(rolls to hit with the flame jet--alternately says "take 2 healing surges of damage")

You can make things moire interesting from there. Give traps a to-hit. a DC to disarm, and stealth.

You don't have to have them do damage- having them do healing surges is teh same thing and easier to manage.

 

[Prism]

Minion traps in DMG 2 cover this kind of thing - basically one action traps. They are worth 1/5th xp. I would set the DC to find them high and maybe wouldn't allow passive perception to notice them

 

[Gort]

Kobold Hall in the back of the DMG... Keep on the Shadowfell.

I found the trap room in Keep on the Shadowfell to be pretty poor - a lot of extremely obviously trapped statues with very limited range, and a magic javelin, and that was the end of that. The players just stood off and shot them all to bits. I can't believe the playtesters never caught that.

Unless I completely missed something somewhere.

 

[Nikosandros]

Yes, I had to change the ranges of the traps in that room... as written, it's pretty bad.

 

[Rechan]

I found the trap room in Keep on the Shadowfell to be pretty poor - a lot of extremely obviously trapped statues with very limited range, and a magic javelin, and that was the end of that. The players just stood off and shot them all to bits. I can't believe the playtesters never caught that.

Unless I completely missed something somewhere.

This was my experience as well.

 

[vagabundo]

I didn't even use the traps as written in KotS, it was badly written and it didn't make any sense to me. I think I just filled it up with zombies, if I remember right.

 

[Stoat]

There's nothing to stop a DM from using old school style pit traps, scythe blades, arrow traps, etc. in 4E. All you need is an attack bonus, damage, a search DC and a disable DC. Keep in mind that with passive perception PC's will automatically find traps with a search DC lower than their perception+10.

As noted, 4E calls these "minion traps." There are a handful in the compendium. There was an article in Dragon #366 that had some useful tables for building traps, and I use it fairly regularly.

For more elaborate "Grimtooth-style" traps, I would strongly suggest the 3.5 Dungeonscape supplement. The book contains a lengthy chapter on "Encounter Traps" which are basically complicated, obvious deathtraps that are meant to be recognized and approached consciously by the PC's instead of just surprising them unexpectedly. The concept is similar to the types of traps you'll see in 4E products, but IMO the execution is better.

 

[Obergnom]

I was not looking to find rules for using traps like in previous editions, that never felt cool. I just recently discovered that I do not know of good 4e encounters that use these kind of traps within the contex of an encounter.

Maybe a bnuch of artillery/lurker monsters that hide behind a corridor full of arrow traps? Some ghosts trying to lure the characters into pit traps? Something like that, but more of it and allready written down somewhere, as I have a hard time comming up with a good mechanic for this, that might not feel tagged on.