Better Traps

Dungeons have traps. It’s quintessential. But traps are not always fun. Certainly not as fun as monsters or weird stuff. 

I’ve been thinking about what works and what doesn’t in my dungeons. One thing that I noticed is that traps were a mixed bag, so I began to keep track of the features that work to make traps more fun. 

For  most of your dungeon traps, do not ask your players to have their characters search. The detection step is not very much fun.

Instead most traps “obvious” (that is, obvious to the kind of capable men who would undertake dungeoneering for fun and profit. Just say “you found a trap at location X” rather than demanding the players search everywhere. 

This turns a “trap” into a “hazard” 

For true traps (eg hidden inanimate dangers,) which should be paltry and wide-yonder, give lots of clues. Even specific clues. Make sure the players know there’s something fishy about. Perhaps blood on the walls l, blade marks in stone or skeletons with their heads lopped off. 

Better the first way than the second - just let the players know a trap is there because their characters are knowledgeable about these kinds of things. Or make it obvious. Instead of a hidden blade trap, have spinning blades extant throughout a certain length of dungeon hallway. 

Or instead of a pit with spikes, have the trap be a deep pit (20’) with smooth sides. 

Then the challenge isn’t “find it” but “beat it.”

The second part of this is that beating a trap should not be based entirely on an ability check or skill roll. There’s no real interaction there. Make traps and hazards more like a logic puzzle or party game. Then when the players are ready to put their characters to the test, they can decide to make the rolls. But have the players decide how their characters are going to beat the trap. 

To aid them, make the trap tactile or mathematical or linguistic whenever possible. Yes, this takes the players one step away from the “main” game, but they are still interacting with the world and with each other. 

Perception, Searching, Stealth and Surprise

The easiest way to handle this, and I’m surprised that I haven’t seen it done, is to unify these mechanics in your head. 

The first step is to make them actually unified. For me, I chose to say that any of these things happen on a base roll of 1-2 on d6. 

Perception is passive information-gathering. It relies on your eyes and ears and sometimes other senses. The Referee rolls this for you in the presence of stimuli. 

Searching is active information-gathering. You “do” this rather than it happening to you. 

Hiding and Sneaking are also active activities (even though hiding is usually stationary.) These are things you are doing to someone else. 

Surprise is a function of someone else’s hiding and sneaking or of happenstance. It is most similar to a Perception check. 

You see something, find something, sneak by/hide from something or surprise someone on a 1-2 on d6. With 1-point modifiers.

Here are their modifiers. 

For perception and searching: 

We start with 1-2 on 1d6. 

We modify by Wisdom, +1/-1.

Perception includes being surprised in combat. Subtract your wisdom modifier from the other man’s roll, just as if you are making a perception check. 

For searching:

We further modify by any tool you might use, such as a 10’ pole or silvered hand mirror. 

There are some modifiers to search and perception based on race. 

For hiding and sneaking: 

We start at 1-2 on 1d6. 

We modify for metal armor: -1.

There are additional racial modifiers for Hobbits. 

For sneaking: 

We further modify for Dexterity. Apply your Dexterity modifier, +1/-1. 

 

 

Cellphones and Dragons

Not like this. 

 “Make a perception check.”

You look at your phone and your referee just sent you this text. 

“Wut”

“Have your man make a perception check.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“We’re headed out to the dungeon and I want to know if you see something.”

“What? Now?”

“Just do it.”

“I thought we weren’t playing until Thursday? We were going to go to the dungeon.”

“Yeah. No. This is better. When we get together on Thursday you will already be at the dungeon. If you live through this.”

“Live through what?”

“Just make a perception check.”

Overland travel might actually be better handled away from the table. Might. Might not. But there are times when you do want to handle yourself away from the table. Downtime and travel are important to the game but tedious time sinks when you’re playing. 

This technique could also inject interest and drama. Why am I rolling perception? Is there a set piece developing? The anticipation is it’s own reward. 

Using the cellphone at the table:

Obviously don’t be doing Draft Kings or Tinder. But use it for game stuff. This is good. This works. 

Maybe you’re speaking in a language only one other PC knows. This happened to me when my son and I happened to be playing dwarfs a few years back. We would tell jokes to each other and laugh and the other players were out of the loop. Granted this can get old if you’re doing it all the time and for no good reason, but a little here and there can add to the experience. 

This can also substitute for the Ref passing you a note for your man or God forbid pulling you away from the table for a minute while the other players sit and make dice towers. 

A third reason to use your phone is to grab hints from online. What’s the terminal speed of a falling elf? What should I name this sword (name generators are a great tool)? 

I’m sure there are other reasons too. But the key is to use the tools you have to advance the game experience.