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<blockquote data-quote="FormerlyHemlock" data-source="post: 9027551" data-attributes="member: 6787650">I used to think &quot;gotcha&quot; traps that trigger automatically when you enter their space were pointless &quot;wandering damage rolls&quot; that you should never use, and should always prefer OSR-style traps that make players think instead of rolling dice. See <a href="https://theangrygm.com/traps-suck/" target="_blank">Traps Suck</a> for the logic.Then I went back and played some 1980s-era Bard's Tale and realized or remembered that you CAN use simple gotcha traps constructively: they make the geography of a locale part of the adventure! Normally it's boring to describe for the players whether a room is T-shaped or L-shaped, whether it bends to the left or right, or to ask the players whether they go through the middle of a room or skirt the edges or crawl on their bellies. Like, who cares about the room by room descriptions? Just skip ahead to where they find a lurking demon or a gelatinous cube or an INTERESTING trap like three holes in the walls, one above another. But Bard's Tale reminded me that spatial patterns are interesting, and gotcha traps make mapping a more interesting activity and raise the stakes on solving labyrinths efficiently (so you don't have to hit all the traps, and don't have to hit certain traps more than once).A deadfall for 4d6+12 damage (DC 15 Investigation to spot the 3' wide pressure plate; automatic avoid if spotted; DC 12 Dex save to evade if triggered) from 800 lb. of falling rubble&nbsp; isn't going to kill a 7th 5E level PC, isn't dramatically interesting per se, and isn't worth spending more than 10 seconds of table time on in and of itself. But by the second or third deadfall, not only will players be looking for opportunities to turn the deadfalls to their advantage, they'll also be trying to deduce patterns to either solve the maze without exploring the whole thing or anticipate traps without needing lucky Investigation rolls or both.Traps make places a character in the story.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="FormerlyHemlock, post: 9027551, member: 6787650"] I used to think "gotcha" traps that trigger automatically when you enter their space were pointless "wandering damage rolls" that you should never use, and should always prefer OSR-style traps that make players think instead of rolling dice. See [URL='https://theangrygm.com/traps-suck/']Traps Suck[/URL] for the logic. Then I went back and played some 1980s-era Bard's Tale and realized or remembered that you CAN use simple gotcha traps constructively: they make the geography of a locale part of the adventure! Normally it's boring to describe for the players whether a room is T-shaped or L-shaped, whether it bends to the left or right, or to ask the players whether they go through the middle of a room or skirt the edges or crawl on their bellies. Like, who cares about the room by room descriptions? Just skip ahead to where they find a lurking demon or a gelatinous cube or an INTERESTING trap like three holes in the walls, one above another. But Bard's Tale reminded me that [I]spatial patterns[/I] are interesting, and gotcha traps make mapping a more interesting activity and raise the stakes on solving labyrinths efficiently (so you don't have to hit all the traps, and don't have to hit certain traps more than once). A deadfall for 4d6+12 damage (DC 15 Investigation to spot the 3' wide pressure plate; automatic avoid if spotted; DC 12 Dex save to evade if triggered) from 800 lb. of falling rubble isn't going to kill a 7th 5E level PC, isn't dramatically interesting per se, and isn't worth spending more than 10 seconds of table time on in and of itself. But by the second or third deadfall, not only will players be looking for opportunities to turn the deadfalls to their advantage, they'll also be trying to deduce patterns to either solve the maze without exploring the whole thing or anticipate traps without needing lucky Investigation rolls or both. Traps make places a character in the story. [/QUOTE]

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