D&D 5E Why traps in D&D usually suck

[Rune]

In this thread, [MENTION=6775031]Saelorn[/MENTION] has informed me that the player doesn't exist, and [MENTION=97077]iserith[/MENTION] has informed me that the character isn't real.

Should I now panic, existentially speaking?

Existentially speaking, there's no point in panicking.

 

[iserith]

After following this thread to it's current conclusion I'm disappointed that there aren't more example puzzle/traps people have used, especially from the people who say they like them in game, personally I'm not great at including traps in my game as I find them very difficult to come up with also doesn't help that the other DM in my group is quite good at them so please post some if you have them

There are some additional examples of puzzle/traps in an Eberron scenario I wrote and posted on enworld:

The Snow Job, An Eberron Heist Scenario

Check the posts detailing The Lift and The Vault.

 

[Fishing_Minigame]

Man, I can't even tell you how often i had to sit down and shut up in the Tiamat campaign. I'm a bit of a military history buff, especially the anti-insurgency conflicts of the late 20th century, so there were a few places where my INT 9 Paladin had to be clueless while I was all but vibrating in place at the gaming table.

As a couple other people have pointed out, being low INT doesn't necessarily mean you have to be completely clueless. Might I make a couple of RP suggestions that could let you leverage your expertise while still playing to your stats?

1. Paladin knows a lot of about military history, but can't articulate it worth beans:

Sir Tacticus: My goodness, this strongly resembles the battle of Orc Hills! That's where they used Elminster's Feint, and then--

Bob the Fighter: They did what now?

Sir Tacticus: Elminster's Feint! That's where you form....er, a wedge, shaped thing, and....well...

2. Paladin knows a lot about military history, but has trouble coming up with the correct example to apply to the situation.

Sir Tacticus: Wow, this is like the sacking of the Emerald Spire! That's where they loaded a bunch of infantry into boats, and then--

Bob the Fighter: What boats? We're on a mountain.

Sir Tacticus: Oh, right. Drat.

3. Paladin knows a lot about military history, but is clueless about everything else.

Sir Tacticus: What is a Gazebo, pray tell? It doesn't sound tactically relevant.

 

[Misty]

Very insightful, thanks.

 

[Maxperson]

It is the disconnect between character knowledge and player knowledge. As a player, I don't know how to use a sword. That doesn't affect how well my PC fights. I do know how to use outdoor first aid, but that doesn't mean my PC can heal others. A player who has a silver tongue might be able to fast-talk someone but their 6 CHA character can't. A player who is excellent at mechanical engineering might be able to disarm a trap, but their character might not be able to, and vice versa.

Puzzles violate the disconnect for the purpose of keeping players entertained, rather than just rolling "Disarm Trap" and moving on.

There is no violation. The character is usually capable of puzzling things out as well, so when the player has fun doing what his character is doing, that's the opposite of a disconnect.

 

[Maxperson]

For my part, that expectation can stay in the late eighties along with Milli Vanilli and parachute pants.

Some things can't be kept down.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/01/milli-vanilli-fab-morvan-comeback-man-who-actually-sang

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I miss interesting traps. Not much thought is put into traps by today's module writers, at least in my experience. It's been a long time since I found a module with traps that required thought or had a deadly effect if the party failed to disarm or bypass them.

I love the Traps and Treachery books that FFG put out for 3.5E. The problem I have with traps is how to avoid turning it into a dice rolling exercise, without taking away from the player of the Rogue who put half his available skill points into Search and Disable Device (or whatever the skills are in 5E).

There should be some way to turn it into a roleplaying experience, where players interact with the trap and then get bonuses to their rolls depending on how well they were able to figure out how the trap works.