It's a trap!

Traps found online around 1999-2001

Credits given when known, presented by ADnD Downloads.

Killing Money
The Party enters a room about 20' by 20' by 10' high in the center is a columb about 1' in
diamiter and floor to celing. Apon closer inspection of the columb the party discovers that it is
a glass tube filled with gold coins (or any other wealth). Thus inticing greed. If the players are
dumb enough to break the columb the entry is sealed (DMs choice of blocks but it must be
removeable under the right conditions after all we ar'nt out to kill them all.) then the room will
start to fill with the gold from the hidden columb above the cealing which holds enough gold to
bury everyone in the room. If they servive the trap they will be richer but you have to
remember encomberance there is no way they could carry it all. and if they insist on comming
back for it just put the apropriate monsters in to gard if.

The Ceiling Is Falling

The PCs enter a very large, round room that is approximately 200' in diameter. The floor is
covered with tiles and many of the tiles have runes on them. The runes are fake, but if detect
magic is cast the runes will radiate slight magic. If the PCs attempt to read the runes they just
barely fail their roles. The tiles that don't have runes appear to be a path to the door on the
opposite side. The path is slightly difficult to walk on without stepping on a rune tile.

While the PCs are trying to figure out the tiles the room is slowly spinning. Magic within the
room prevents the PCs from being able to detect the spinning. At the same time the 50' high
ceiling is lowering 5' every round.

The ceiling is actually an illusion. As the "ceiling" lowers a rope ladder is lowering at the same
rate and is 1' above the "ceiling".

Give the PCs extra XP if they discover the rope ladder before leaving by the door.

Contributed by Robert A. Phillips (uwa110@STUMAIL.WESTAL.EDU)

When Is A Pit Really A Pit

In the middle of a 20' wide corridor is a 10' wide pit. The pit is about 100' deep and several
dark shapes can be seen moving around the bottom. On either side of the pit is a 5' wide
walkway. When the PCs try to cross the walkway they discover that it's an illusion. The
walkways are actually 50' deep pits. The walls of the pits are lined with poisoned spikes and
acid is at the bottom of the pits. The original pit is an illusion that is safe to cross.
Contributed by Robert A. Phillips (uwa110@STUMAIL.WESTAL.EDU)

Let Sleeping Spiders Lie

A wooden bridge spans a large pit. The first two or three PCs can safely cross the bridge
without any problem. The next PC gets halfway across before hearing a scuttling sound. Two
giant spiders, awaken by the footsteps of those who safely crossed the bridge, climb up and
stand on either side of the bridge; cutting off any form of retreat. If any spells are cast at the
spiders (i.e. fireball, lightning) there's a good chance the bridge will be destroyed, causing the
trapped PC to fall into the pit of acid.

Contributed by Matthew Thomas Kerwin (15623@EF.GC.MARICOPA.EDU)

Naga's Riddle
A room that contains three chests: small, medium and large. In front of each chest is a Dark
Naga of equivalent size. Each Naga will offer the equivalent chest in exchange for answering
a riddle. Should the one who chooses to answer the riddle answers incorrectly, he will have to
fight the Naga in single combat.

Contributed by Matthew Thomas Kerwin (15623@EF.GC.MARICOPA.EDU)

Pulsating Stone
The setting can be in any long cavern or hallway. On the wall is a small opening, just large
enough for a hand to fit through. Inside the hole is a pulsation blue stone. When the PC tries
to get the stone out he finds that he can't get his hand back out while holding the stone. What
happens is up to the DM. An example might be the floor and ceiling dropping down like an
elevator with your hand stuck in the door.

Contributed by @CiDpHrIeK (acdphrk@cyburban.com)

Flour Floor
The floor of a room is two feet below the level of the doors. Filling that space is flour, packed
fairly tightly. As the party moves about, flour gets kicked up and floats about. The effect
increases as movement increases. (1) Visibility is shot. (2) There is a small chance of a PC
suffocating (asthma?) (3) Any large amount of airborne particulate is flammable (as in grain
elevators). If the party has any source of flame (torch, lantern, pipe), the air will ignite in an
explosion that makes Fireballs look like matches.

Contributed by Pietro A. Semifero (SEMIFERO@USA.PIPELINE.COM)

Gelatinous Cube Hall

An area of the dungeon is sealed off and a gelatinous cube roams the halls. The hall is dimly
lit (if lit at all), making the cube nearly invisible. As the characters enter the room and proceed
down the hall - an illusion starts behind them of hundreds of poisonous snakes (or whatever)
pouring out of a trap door in the ceiling and coming in their direction. The players high tail it
away from the snakes, only to splat into the gelatinous cube, who almost surely has surprised
them.

Contributed by Steve Bartell (STEVEBAR@WORDPERFECT.COM)

Medusa Panorama
A room contains several panorama boxes with scenes inside of knights, dragons, etc. In order
to see the scenes, the character's need to look through two glass peepholes. The panoramas
can even contain clues to help them in the dungeon. However, one of the boxes contains a
severed and preserved Medusa head. When the unsuspecting character looks into the peek
holes, the Medusa is set to look out the peepholes - causing the character to automatically
meet the gaze. Time for a saving throw! Tell the victim secretly what he saw so the other
players have no clue. The other players just see their companion look into the box and turn to
stone.

Contributed by Steve Bartell (STEVEBAR@WORDPERFECT.COM)

Sand Trap
A room with only one entrance exit, perhaps 10-20 foot square. The DM might add a bit of
treasure to make it seem attractive. Once entered, a wall of stone drops from the ceiling to
cover the entrance door. Seconds later, sand begins to fill the room at the rate of about one
foot per round. How long can the characters hold their breaths?

Contributed by White Knight (WhtKnt@AOL.COM)

Black Pudding
A long flight of stairs going down, about 10 feet wide and long enough that the adventurers
cannot see the end. Halfway down, the adventurers trigger a trip wire that causes the stairs to
collapse into a slide. It is important to allow them a chance to catch themselves to keep from
sliding all the way down, because after another round, oil begins to seep from pores near the
top of the slide. This should make things quite slippery. And at the bottom of the
staircase/slide...a pit of black pudding.

Contributed by White Knight (WhtKnt@AOL.COM)

Statues of Life & Death

You're walking down a corridor come upon a point where it widens, and there are two doors
and two statues, one on the left and one on the right. When all of the party gets into the
chamber, the passage behind is sealed off by a falling block. On the wall before the group is a
plaque, and inscribed upon it are these words.

“One way holds life and one holds death, just as one guide speaks always truth
and one always speaks falsely. Ask but one question of one guide before you
and choose your path. Choose wisely and live, choose unwisely and die,
choose not at all and perish where you stand.”
Now, of course, there's only one question I know of which will always give you the right
answer. You ask either statue this: `If I asked the other statue which path leads to safety,
would it tell me the right or left one?` And of course you choose the opposite of the one it tells
you, and this is why. Let's say the statue answers `the right path.` Now if the statue you asked
tells the truth, the other one would lie to you and tell you the right path, which is the path of
death. However, if the statue you asked always lies, then the other one would not tell you the
right path but the left one. Either way, if you choose the left path it is the correct one.

Now of course, don't go and forget to put the hideously lethal trap behind the door that leads
to doom, and the only slightly less hideously lethal critter behind the door to safety."

U Shaped Corridor
At the end of the U is a maze carved onto a door. There is no handle or lock in sight. As PC's
get to the end water starts to flood in. They have to run a finger along the maze to open the
door.

Punching Hand Door

If the door is opened without knocking first a large glowing hand punches the first PC through
then slams the door shut. If PC's try to attack it, it will attempt to grasp the weapon and pull it
out of the PC's hand.

Door With Many Traps

When the door is opened traps appear to either side of the door but not where the thief was
standing.

Lift
The door has a very neat label 'Lift' pinned to it. The door will only open if it is lifted!

Springboard
When the door is opened the floor pivots dropping those 10' from the door into a pit. There
may be spikes on the ceiling above the door to cause other party members to stand well
back.
Eye Of The Beholder
Floating in the corridor is a beholder, it has its back towards you. It is actually a sack
containing yellow mould spores.

Tombola
You enter a corridor strewn with boulders through a one way door. As you try to open the
door at the far end the room starts to rotate. The far door is a false door. There may be
numbers on the boulders. A hatch will open in the ceiling and a giant will reach in for a
boulder but may pick up a PC instead. The boulders do 2d6 damage to a PC, Thac0 12.
Armoured PC's do the same damage to other PC's!

Bernie - The Bolt

In a 10' wide corridor, lit by many torches. Door is offset to one side. As PCs get half way
down corridor and set off trap which sends a balista bolt which smashes the wall at far end
releasing explosive gas - equivalent to a 6d6 fireball, unless a PC gets in the way in which
case the wall does not get broken.

The No Trap, Trap

PC's walk into a circular room with a pedestal in the centre, upon which sits a large ruby. The
room is lined with mirrors and the ceiling is covered with mirrors. PC's are going to take a long
time before believing that there isn't a trap in the room. When they examine the ruby they find
it is paste. A useful trap if you want to delay PC's for a while.

The Trapped Map

Let a map come into the possession of the PC's that has no writing on it. The map purports to
be the map to the lair of a famous mage (Davindo Clinaero) or monster. The map is designed
in mirror form i.e. the dungeon is symmetrical but the directions that the map indicates are the
way to traps and doom. How long will it be before the PC's work it out?

Bless You!
A trap in the floor releases a cloud of fine pepper into the air. PC's will sneeze for 2d4 rounds
(1/2 if a saving throw vs. poison is made) . While sneezing no spells can be cast, lose
initiative and attack at-2. Meanwhile a host of shadows engage the party. Oh yes did I add
that there are several of these traps in the room!

Balls
Trap releases large number of marbles onto the floor. PCs can move slowly (5' without
dexterity check) but any complex move such as fighting or moving more than 5' need to make
a dexterity check or fall over. Needless to say they are attacked by a number of flying
creatures or non-corporeal beasts.

Roll 'em! Roll 'em! Roll 'em!

A long corridor (50') has a several rollers each about 5' apart along its length. PC's must
make a dexterity check or fall into the water below the rollers which contains either crocodiles,
piranhas or snakes.

That Rings A Bell

A mimic has stationed itself outside of a door disguised as a bell. The bell pull is it's tongue.

Chest Trap 1
The trap teleports the person to a random location in the dungeon.

Chest Trap 2
Not really a trap this one. A false bottom in the chest hides a narrow flight of stairs leading
down into darkness.

The Foolish PC Smasher

Party is going through a dungeon, and a barrier wall falls down on either side of a player (in
my game, it happened to be the thief). A board slides out from the wall, crossing the corridor,
and a magic mouth says "Can you break this board?". Buddy breaks board, and barriers
retract. A little while later, same deal, except it's a stone beam, (and their fighter was the
trapped one). Buddy breaks said beam, and the barriers retract. A bit later, the same thing,
except it's a wooden pole, (and the mage is trapped). Buddy breaks the staff, and the DM
looks up Retributive Strike... See Staff of Magi & Power, page 154, DM's Guide 2nd Ed.

Countdown to Freedom
Party enters a 10x10 room, and stone doors seal the room at all entrances. Looking about,
there is a button on the wall, beside a number dial (like on a gas pump) that counts down 10-
9-8... Some bright soul presses the button, and the dial resets to 10. In my campaign, the
party spent fully 45 minutes of real time searching the room for an escape, while one PC
stayed near the button to continue resetting the dial. Finally, they said forget it, and let the dial
count down to 0, at which point the doors slid open, and the DM was chased from the room.

Trading Well
How about a 'trading' well, a large well where various swords & daggers hover above it in mid
air, and don't budge at all if grasped and pulled, but one must place a sword or other weapon
in exchange for one in the well. Note if a PC tries to put a normal weapon in the well in
exchange for something magical, this is a good way to give a *cursed* weapon instead.

Firebreak
When the party reaches 1, the thief should check for traps, there are none here so when the
party enters the room and reaches 2, the door slams shut (one way door so they cannot get
out). Written on the glass wall, in several languages, is a sign saying "In case of fire, break
glass." If (eventually) the party approaches 4, napalm drops, igniting 1 or more characters.
The party will probably break the glass. Upon doing this, water flows in from a small grate in
the ceiling above 3, flooding the entire area. Any characters in armour are in @#it. The grate
could be the escape (Or anything else ) - you decide ????

You can work on this idea as much as you want, I just thought some sadistic DM might enjoy
watching his/her players squirm for a while.

----------------------
1 / 2 4 \
~~~~~|''''''''''''|~~~~
| 3 |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Key: ''''''' glass wall
~~---|| normal walls
\ false door
/ one way door

Ding-Dong, the Party's Dead

The PC's enter a corridor where the side walls on the left & to the right are made of delicate
green glass. Behind the glass is some type of liquid, and it looks like a giant fish tank(Acid
Bath). Along both sides are grooves with holes every couple feet(drains). If the PCs ask the
ceiling is pitted is spots, and the floor is also covered in glass. The corridor is very sensitive to
sound and any noise is magnified tenfold through loud echoes, which will cause the walls to
shatter or break, pouring sulfuric acid upon any unfortunate PC's, and then drain to be reused
later. Even if they're, quiet a pressure plate on the floor is activated once stepped upon, then
the PCs hear a large bell, that sounds like a churchbell, who's vibrations shatter the glass on
the twelth ring. This bell is also an alarm signal for some nearby monsters, such as orcs or
Hobgoblins, etc. The PC's will see the walls start to vibrate and begin to crack if they make a
roll on 1d20 under half their Wis or Int whichever is better. An idea for damage due to the acid
causes 5d8 HP of damage, save for half, and will cause 2d4 hp of dmg per round if they are
wearing metal armour. Make appropriate item saving throws for the PC's possessions. Even if
they cast silence and stop the walls from shattering, the monsters still attack. Then can you
see the PCs trying to kill the monsters quietly, or a stray swipe taking out one of the
walls(oops!).
 ++++++++++++++
+ 2 + 1 PCs come from this direction
+++++++++++++++''''''''''''++++++ 2 Pools of acid
1 # 3 # 4 3 After PCs enter doors close, bell
+++++++++++++++''''''''''''++++++ begins to sound
+ 2 + 4 After acid drains away, monsters
++++++++++++++ attack

Legend : ''''''' glass wall

+++++++ normal walls
# doors

Mirror, Mirror, Is the Wall!?

Addition by: bajuscikge96%cs30@cadetmail.usafa.af.mil (George E. Bajuscik)

How about something simple like a long straight corridor that ends with a bend to one side (L
shaped). The corridor is unlit or maybe very dimly lit. In the corner where the bend is you put
a large mirror at a 45 degree angle so that you can see around the corner when you are in the
long part of the corridor. Put one or more monsters "around the corner" and have the PC's
coming down the long corridor. Give the monsters a little light (torches or whatever) so that
the PC's can see them. The mirror will have to be heavy duty to withstand missile weapons
and maybe spells but the PC's should waste time, spells and missile weapons trying to hit the
monsters. You might even allow the mirror to break and put a door behind the mirror. This
door will look identical to one that you put "around the corner" behind the monsters. When the
mirror breaks it will look like the monsters suddenly disappear. The PC's move in closer and
the monsters can then ambush them before the PC's realize there is a corner at the end of
the corridor.

Good, although here's a variation for the devious. One of the pc's in the party at one time
made a mirror spell, which was 3rd lvl and made a mirror w. no substance, that can move with
the character's concentration and was 5' sq for every level of the caster (great for fighting
medusae). Anyhow have the enemy mage cast the mirror spell in a T section of the hall way.
When the party starts throwing spells and weap, etc the mage laughs at the party as all the
items pass are absorbed by him!! Then before the party gets too close the mage dispels the
mirror and casts the illusion of the wall. Then when the characters eventually get the courage
to approach where the invincible and now maybe invisible mage was, the mage and his group
attack from behind.
_______________________

1 3
__________ __________
|~~~|
| 2 |
| |
| |
1 party comes from this direction
2 mage casts mirror spell in area 3
~ illusionary wall

Stop!!! Hey, It Actually Listened!

Here's a variation for that automaton. When the party enters, a magic mouth on the wall
commands "Automaton: attack the party". The party can either fight to the death, or yell
"Automaton: surrender". or whatever. Limited vocabulary, though.

The See-Saw With an Attitude

Here's a weak one: teeter-totter floor in 20x40 room. Door at both ends, but as you walk to
the other end, the floor teeters down to a lower door/opening w monsters there. The party
may slide to their clutches if they're not quick. If most of the party stays balanced between
ends, they can hold up the teeter-totter until they figure out how to open the doors. A magic
mouth laughs (on the floor) while the party is trying to figure out what to do. Have fun with
them trying to keep the floor balanced. Also the monsters will try and pull their side of the see-
saw down, so the PCs have to run to the other side to keep them from sliding to the monsters.

You could use a pressure plate for a variant--the party has to put something heavy on the
plate, then walk back to the door on the other side of this room, pressure on plate locks the
see-saw.

Side View: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 PCs approach

1 # 2 # 4 2 PCs trigger see-saw
++++++++------*------++++++++ 3 Monsters grin at desparate
+ + screaming, pathetic-looking,
+ 3 3 5+ and scared PCs
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 4 Safety
5 Treasure?
Legend : +++++++ normal walls
# doors
------- see-saw floor

Finally, a Rope That Does the Work!

How about a 100' tall smooth shaft going upwards. There are some short ropes on the floor
with nametags, like Zippy and Arrow. Residents know to tie themselves up with the rope as a
harness, then speak the name of the rope-- the rope magically lifts the person swiftly to the
top of the shaft-- you've got 5 seconds to push yourself along the roof into the open archway,
when the time's up, the rope stops lifting and you drop. You'll need some other way to get
down-- like a slide elsewhere in the dungeon, or bring your own 110' ropes.

Physics 101
The party encounters a corridor that is coated with ice. Upon entering the corridor they
discover a crack in the wall of the corridor. Blue liquid (or any other color you choose) flows
from the crack and forms a small stream which flows over ice down the corridor away from
the party. As the party procedes they encounter a room at the end of the corridor which is full
of gas. The stream of liquid flows into the room. The gas is a powerful contact poison (save or
take a good deal of damage). The gas forms a fog- like vapor in the room, making visability
very difficult within the room. The gas does not enter the corridor. The key to the whole puzzle
is that the room is heated slightly and no ice is present in the room, only in the corridor. When
the liquid is warmed it vaporizes and forms a gas. To solve the puzzle you must cool the room
so the gas returns to its liquid form.

Our DM threw in a couple of twists to this basic design to spice things up a bit. The layout was
a bit different first of all. Another corridor (with ice) ran next to the above mentioned corridor
except there was no liquid in this corridor. The corridors met just before the gas room. At the
other end was another room. In this room was an extreamely tough monster (basically
unkillable by normal adventurer means - ie. magic etc.). The monster had total magic
resistance (magic weapons also did not function as anything other than normal weapons) and
had an increadible armor class so it was very hard to hit. The magic resistance was supplied
by a special collar (more on that later). The monster was slow so it could be easily outrun and
it was pretty stupid. This provided a sence of urgancy to the encounter since if you just sat
around and tried to figure out the puzzle the monster would be all over you. If you haven't
figured this out yet, the way to kill the monster is with the gas (there are a number of ways to
do this but I won't go into all that detail here, it's not hard to figure out). It is necessary to kill
the monster (rather than just run away) because you need the collar. In the gas room is a
magical door that is unopenable except by using the antimagic collar (I guess there are other
ways if you have the resources but our group didn't).

A little more detail about the room might be in order here. In the room there was a small pool
of liquid (fed by the stream). The liquid then flowed out of the room (although slowly). The
pool formed around a central rock that was warm and the rest of the floor was sand. A good
DM should be able to come up with many variations of this room to suit individual campaigns
but the basics will remain the same. If you think this room is real easy to figure out after
reading through this it is probably much harder (not probably - IT IS!!) when you have an
unkillable monster chasing you around and it's 2 in the morning. This room was run with two
different groups. Both groups solved it but it took both of them several hours each (we're
talkin about 5 or 6 20 to 30 year olds with Ph.D. and master degrees - not stupid people). It
was a lot of fun though - give it a try.

DM Says: So You Want to Adventure Separately? Fine!

How about a narrow corridor leading into a room. The party must walk in single file to get to
the room. Once a person enters, they are randomly teleported to different locations in the
room. This helps to separate the party which is very effective on groups who depend on
support from one or two others to win their battles. The room should be about 100 square
yds. and broken up into a nice 10x10 grid (varies). Each sector of 10 yds. has something in it,
like a monster, magic weapon, or a curse to it or something. The players can walk out on any
side of the square they want, but they can't see where it leads because it just teleports them
to another square in the room. One square on each side of the room has an exit into another
corridor.

It's a lot of fun to see how bad off players come out of this room. Sometimes they have to re-
enter to get back to the corridor their group is meeting at. One player came out of mine as a
400 pound plaid person. The beauty of the room is that its will always be different and you
can select whatever you want each square to be.

They'll probably want to stay together for a while too.