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<blockquote data-quote="bloodtide" data-source="post: 9268448" data-attributes="member: 6684958">I love traps and use them in RPGs often.&nbsp; Starting in the '20's was the &quot;trap filled adventure&quot; story that was popular for the next couple decades in comics, books, movies and TV shows.&nbsp; As a kid, many decades later, I could buy a whole box of &quot;trap filled adventure&quot; comics and books for $1.&nbsp; And a couple years after that I started playing D&amp;D and the first couple of editions loved traps too....Encounter Traps: I'd call the first kind of trap Encounter Traps.&nbsp; They are no different then a role playing or combat encounter.&nbsp; Saying they are just for &quot;attrition&quot; is too limiting.&nbsp; RPGs like D&amp;D are about resource management and attrition as basic features.&nbsp; Your character has a set amount of items and 'life force'....use them wisely.&nbsp; While there are simple traps, just like simple combat and role playing encounters, the real fun of traps are the Problem Solving Traps.&nbsp; A trap of more size and detail that the players must figure out a way to by pass.&nbsp; They were quite popular before 3X.&nbsp; This was the sort of trap you could just just lazily &quot;disable&quot; with a roll.&nbsp; You had to figure out a way past the trap: for real.&nbsp; And by &quot;real&quot; I mean the Players, not the characters, would have to Problem Solve and get past the trap.&nbsp; Some published traps might give ways past it, but a lot of them would just say something like &quot;if the PC can figure out some way to block the opening&quot; and leave it vague like that.&nbsp; There was no more modern idea of &quot;PC uses game action Clever Idea and picks up Item A and uses it to block opening A&quot;, rolls some dice...and everyone is amazed how the &quot;character&quot; got past the trap.Encounter Traps also cross with Encounter Hazards, and the two do mix together seamlessly.&nbsp; Hazards are just about always natural environments, though they can be created too.Puzzle Traps stand out as the &quot;weird&quot; traps made by crazy folk or such.&nbsp; But note puzzle traps do have other uses.&nbsp; Some common ones are as tests: the maker of the trap wants to test the person to get an expected result.&nbsp; The other common one is the gatekeeping type trap: made to make sure only a person of a fairly specific knowledge and intelligence can get past the trap.With the passing of Old School play....traps lost a lot.&nbsp; Newer, younger players...nearly all of them casual players could not...or did not want to &quot;solve or bypass&quot; traps or anything else in the game For Real.&nbsp; 3X D&amp;D saw the rise and big overwhelming push for an all &quot;equal&quot; Straightforward Mechanical Game.&nbsp; Player encountered Trap Type Six of EL 11, and must roll higher then a 15 to &quot;disarm/bypass&quot;.&nbsp; And this has carried on to today.&nbsp; Many gamers today, nearly anyone who has started playing in the last 20 years or so....just see traps as a pointless thing that &quot;gets in the way&quot; of Real Gameplay.&nbsp; They see no point in endlessly doing&nbsp; &quot;oh a trap, we disarm it...again&quot; and &quot;Oh no a trap we take x damage....again&quot; as it's dull and boring.&nbsp; Though that is just about all of modern traps.&nbsp; As an Old School DM may game is famous for Hard Fun Nightmare Fuel traps.&nbsp; The typical casual player is &quot;not ready&quot; for the type of traps with will encounter in my game.&nbsp; Often this leads to character death and the player stomping away mad.&nbsp; One out of every couple players does &quot;get it&quot; though, and become a fan of Hard Fun traps.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="bloodtide, post: 9268448, member: 6684958"] I love traps and use them in RPGs often. Starting in the '20's was the "trap filled adventure" story that was popular for the next couple decades in comics, books, movies and TV shows. As a kid, many decades later, I could buy a whole box of "trap filled adventure" comics and books for $1. And a couple years after that I started playing D&D and the first couple of editions loved traps too.... Encounter Traps: I'd call the first kind of trap Encounter Traps. They are no different then a role playing or combat encounter. Saying they are just for "attrition" is too limiting. RPGs like D&D are about resource management and attrition as basic features. Your character has a set amount of items and 'life force'....use them wisely. While there are simple traps, just like simple combat and role playing encounters, the real fun of traps are the Problem Solving Traps. A trap of more size and detail that the players must figure out a way to by pass. They were quite popular before 3X. This was the sort of trap you could just just lazily "disable" with a roll. You had to figure out a way past the trap: for real. And by "real" I mean the Players, not the characters, would have to Problem Solve and get past the trap. Some published traps might give ways past it, but a lot of them would just say something like "if the PC can figure out some way to block the opening" and leave it vague like that. There was no more modern idea of "PC uses game action Clever Idea and picks up Item A and uses it to block opening A", rolls some dice...and everyone is amazed how the "character" got past the trap. Encounter Traps also cross with Encounter Hazards, and the two do mix together seamlessly. Hazards are just about always natural environments, though they can be created too. Puzzle Traps stand out as the "weird" traps made by crazy folk or such. But note puzzle traps do have other uses. Some common ones are as tests: the maker of the trap wants to test the person to get an expected result. The other common one is the gatekeeping type trap: made to make sure only a person of a fairly specific knowledge and intelligence can get past the trap. With the passing of Old School play....traps lost a lot. Newer, younger players...nearly all of them casual players could not...or did not want to "solve or bypass" traps or anything else in the game For Real. 3X D&D saw the rise and big overwhelming push for an all "equal" Straightforward Mechanical Game. Player encountered Trap Type Six of EL 11, and must roll higher then a 15 to "disarm/bypass". And this has carried on to today. Many gamers today, nearly anyone who has started playing in the last 20 years or so....just see traps as a pointless thing that "gets in the way" of Real Gameplay. They see no point in endlessly doing "oh a trap, we disarm it...again" and "Oh no a trap we take x damage....again" as it's dull and boring. Though that is just about all of modern traps. As an Old School DM may game is famous for Hard Fun Nightmare Fuel traps. The typical casual player is "not ready" for the type of traps with will encounter in my game. Often this leads to character death and the player stomping away mad. One out of every couple players does "get it" though, and become a fan of Hard Fun traps. [/QUOTE]

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