What's your favorite trap?

[DMH]

I have a couple.

Fake traps, those that make the PCs dither and waste time. Is the green gas the villain released lethal? No, it is a very cheap knock off meant to allow some escape time. The chessboard that does nothing (how I hate those traps). The lever that makes creaking noises but nothing else.

And then there is the flicker illusion. Makes those who make the save think a real object is an illusion. Yes, they have to fail the save to pick up the object is real. Very useful to swinging logs and rolling boulders.

 

[Cor Azer]

I don't like any traps. Either you spot them beforehand and nothing happens, or you trigger them and the next chance you get to do anything is after the trap has already done its work and there's nothing you can do about it.
You can't interact with traps, they just happen and reduce some HP in most cases.

That's why simple traps that can be used/triggered during another encounter are best.

 

[jefgorbach]

sorry, but huh?

both are AD&Dv1 monsters vaguely related to mimics, with the Lurker Above bearing a false "ceiling" which falls upon its victims while the Trapper camoflages itself as a typical stone floor awaiting to roll-up/envelope the unsuspecting ... thus a common encounter was for both to share a room and the resulting squishy meals.

 

[Grogg of the North]

A box of 10 potions all the same color and all labeled Cure Critical Wounds. Except one of them is something nasty like Inflict Critical Wounds, Contagion - Dysentery, or Fireball.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

A scantily clad woman.

 

[Ringlerun]

I always liked the 10x10 metal room were the party gets lightning bolted.

 

[Dordledum]

Going to incorporate xWolfLordx's suggestion of the 15 foot pit with g-cube on a ledge, and the already sprung pit-trap in an earlier room.

Sounds like enough for a single dungeon.

 

[jedavis]

Pretty much everything on Hack & Slash's Thursday Trick column is fantastic.

 

[NewJeffCT]

I always like the obvious trap. Or the half set off trap. The players will look around and probe everywhere trying to find the "real" trap.

Mostly I don't use traps but I like to place in things that make the players think there are traps.

That is usually my attitude as well. What I also do is sometimes, when the PCs check for traps, I'll let them find one, even if I don't have one there. Gives them a sense of accomplishment.

Player: My rogue checks for traps (rolls dice) - 32 for Perception
DM: Your eyes moves about the secret entrance and it looks like nothing there. You prepare to step through the opening, but, at the last second, your keen eyes notice an almost invisible wire strung out across the opening.
Player: Yes! I tell the rest of the group about this and how to avoid it.

 

[NewJeffCT]

A scantily clad woman.

In my 30+ years of gaming, that's one that almost never fails to work.

It's almost 100% when also accompanied by a 1" tall piece of metal, resin or plastic painted to look like a scantily clad woman.