The best traps are the ones the players bring the danger into. A passageway 30’ long with a water tunnel just ahead of the wall that goes under the wall is always a fun one. It dead-ends just outside of the sight of torchlight. Goblins or kobolds grabbing a wizard’s backpack and running down the hall might cause that wizard to throw a lightning bolt or a fireball down that hallway to kill whatever grabbed his spellbook. In older editions, that lightning bolt would travel the 30’ down the hallway, hit that wall and bounce back at the casting wizard. And if it was built with that in mind, it would go through the wizard, hit the wall behind him and bounce back at him a second time before burning through the 120’ range that the spell covers. Likewise, a fireball in older editions filled a volume, meaning that 30’ long, 5’ wide tunnel would blast the casting wizard with his own fireball, because it filled a 400 square foot area of effect and the tunnel only took 150 of that volume. Other concealed traps used in combat, like the pit trap covered in boards only strong enough to hold the weight of a goblin or kobold can take that 200 lbs fighter wearing 50 lbs in armor out of the fight until he can climb out of the hole. If the fall doesn’t get him, climbing out of the hole while dodging arrows and bolts may. That’s the old rickety bridge trick for dealing with the melee types. If you’re really feeling cruel, put a half-starved animal in the pit. Or there is the counterweight suspension bridge trap. The bridge looks good and strong, held up by sound ropes, but as soon as someone steps out onto it, they discover that the counterweights are only about 30 lbs heavier than the bridge. That causes them to make a Dex check to avoid falling off of the bridge into the water below. Or even worse, it drops them down to where the walls are full of firing ports where archers are waiting if they do keep their balance. And none of those involved the trap itself being magical in nature. Those are just simple ambush traps. A 20’ jog in a tunnel with a lightning bolt trap can cause an unlucky PC to trigger a lightning bolt that will bounce back on them six times before running its full course. A rogue with evasion might survive it unharmed, but the rest of the party won’t be so lucky.
I saw something close to this online and used it on my party. They are going along a passage and see a bear trap. Steel, pressure plate, even told them it was obviously bear trap. There is room to step round it, but they decided to trigger it so it wouldn't block their retreat. When they touch it an illusory section of ceiling disappears and a zombie pleistocene cave bear drops onto the party. "Well, heck, folks, I even told you right up front it was a bear trap..."
Here's a thought that just popped in my head while watching this video. You come to a door that opens up to a large room, but as soon as you open the door to walk in, 4 equally spaced glowing beads materialize in the room. Those beads are delayed blast fireballs. The other problem with this room is that the opposite door won't open unless the 1st door is closed. Closing it sets off the fireballs. The doors are made of heavy iron
A treasure chest on a raised platform, and the platform is counter weighted, (so a reverse pressure plate), you can add more weight but when you remove enough weight it goes off. So they usually check the chest for traps, they open it, there is treasure, they take the treasure or grab the chest, all nothing happens. Then they step off the platform. A room locks its doors when the players enter, and there is a clock that begins counting down from 15 seconds with a button on a pedestal in the center of the room, and a sign that says, "Push to Reset". The trap is they don't know what will happen if the clock reaches zero, but they can reset the time by pushing the button, really it is just to freak the players out and when they finally let the clock reach zero, the doors open.
Pit trap leads into a chute that has had a grease spell cast on it angled at 45 degrees down, 50 feet in length, then splits into 2 branches that are both greased and lead to 2 different levels of the dungeon or cave system. The split between has to be avoided otherwise you will be trying to go in both directions. Could add more traps connected to the chutes before they end. My favorite is dropping them into an underground lake in a cavern far below the castle they were trying to raid. Now they have to battle back up to the upper layers
Here is a bit of engagement, then some feedback. Boardgames make the best traps and dungeons. Designing around boardgame rules while adjusting for the TtRPG you are playing is a great way to make fun and engageing dungeons or traps. Like taking Munchkin, and making a 10 room dungeon (could be with two of the classic 5 room dungeon), then tying the traps to specific rules or elements of that game. The dungeon could be an abandoned overgrown magical zoo, where some of the attractions decided to stay, and new ones moved in. It might have been abandoned due to some disaster just like a flood, earthquake, or magical radiation to give reason for a hasty evacuation. Rewards could be the equipment that the original keepers left behind to help protect themselves or tame the old magical beasts of the old park, while the players will need to use creativity for the newer residence. The equipment could be treated as the equipment in the board rules, giving each weapon or armor a property like "Big" and other traits reflected on the original game's cards. Consumables could include strange liquids found in old food stalls, magical effects in the form of edible plantlife, or hallucinogenic body or waste material from the local fauna. A trap designed this way could have a 10 limit on it, and specific triggers cause the counter to tick up or down. Maybe players need specific trappings or materials to pass through the trap unharmed, or suffer some kind of harmful effect or lose access to specific passages (trapping in or blocking them out). Perhaps the trap is a simple detector that sets off an alarm when it detects enough of the right material or maybe even bio signature, which can be a fear inducing trap when surrounded by hungry magical beasts. Anyway, that's just a method I thought I would share. Feedback. I don't mind AI, but this might not be a very good use case of it. I would rather listen to AI reading the article than the simulacrum of a conversation this is. It's close to uncanny, and it doesn't have the hum of the human spirit in it. I want real opinions from real people adding commentary to an article that is written. Even an AI generated article would be a good article for commentary, since a machine can't replicate the Wisdom a real person can bring, and would benefit greatly from a human commentary. An AI read article, with a human commentary (and maybe and AI response), would be good too, and can be recorded and edited to cut out the bad AI audio. Sure, it's going to take more work, time, and possibly people, but the quality could be near unmatched. Imho. I also think that the best use of AI is to help improve skills we are not good at while enhancing the one's that we are. I think its cool to use AI (I would), but I think this has no spirit. No pizazz. It's missing its je ne sais quoi.
Thanks for the detailed feedback-and the creative dungeon concept! Using boardgame mechanics as inspiration for traps and dungeons? That’s genius. A Munchkin-inspired magical zoo dungeon with abandoned keepers’ gear and evolving magical beasts is the kind of quirky, engaging setup that would keep any party on their toes. I’m already picturing the chaos of hallucinogenic consumables and ticking traps tied to the dungeon’s "rules." Absolutely love it-thanks for sharing that method! As for the feedback, totally hear you. Finding that balance between AI and human commentary is key. Adding that “hum of the human spirit” is something I’m always working on-it’s like the final ingredient to make things really resonate. The idea of pairing AI-generated articles with real human commentary (or even a mix of AI-human dialogue) is a solid approach. Appreciate you taking the time to lay out your thoughts-it helps improve what I do. Cheers! 😊
Honey to attract human DMs with decades of experience. If you check comments and the "Community" tab, you can see it's working. Well met, fellow human! Stay a while?
It feels fake as hell, you can tell they were not actually experiencing the game they said they did in game. But it is a great creation, kinda like studio Gangsters rapping 😂
💬 What’s the most creative trap you’ve used or encountered in a campaign? Share your stories in the comments below! 👇
This is my first time finding this channel. It's like if NPR made a D&D podcast. Super good!
Nice! Even better are the human DM comments on a lot of the videos and in the Community tab! Glad you found us!
The best traps are the ones the players bring the danger into.
A passageway 30’ long with a water tunnel just ahead of the wall that goes under the wall is always a fun one. It dead-ends just outside of the sight of torchlight. Goblins or kobolds grabbing a wizard’s backpack and running down the hall might cause that wizard to throw a lightning bolt or a fireball down that hallway to kill whatever grabbed his spellbook.
In older editions, that lightning bolt would travel the 30’ down the hallway, hit that wall and bounce back at the casting wizard. And if it was built with that in mind, it would go through the wizard, hit the wall behind him and bounce back at him a second time before burning through the 120’ range that the spell covers.
Likewise, a fireball in older editions filled a volume, meaning that 30’ long, 5’ wide tunnel would blast the casting wizard with his own fireball, because it filled a 400 square foot area of effect and the tunnel only took 150 of that volume.
Other concealed traps used in combat, like the pit trap covered in boards only strong enough to hold the weight of a goblin or kobold can take that 200 lbs fighter wearing 50 lbs in armor out of the fight until he can climb out of the hole. If the fall doesn’t get him, climbing out of the hole while dodging arrows and bolts may. That’s the old rickety bridge trick for dealing with the melee types. If you’re really feeling cruel, put a half-starved animal in the pit.
Or there is the counterweight suspension bridge trap. The bridge looks good and strong, held up by sound ropes, but as soon as someone steps out onto it, they discover that the counterweights are only about 30 lbs heavier than the bridge. That causes them to make a Dex check to avoid falling off of the bridge into the water below. Or even worse, it drops them down to where the walls are full of firing ports where archers are waiting if they do keep their balance.
And none of those involved the trap itself being magical in nature. Those are just simple ambush traps.
A 20’ jog in a tunnel with a lightning bolt trap can cause an unlucky PC to trigger a lightning bolt that will bounce back on them six times before running its full course. A rogue with evasion might survive it unharmed, but the rest of the party won’t be so lucky.
I saw something close to this online and used it on my party. They are going along a passage and see a bear trap. Steel, pressure plate, even told them it was obviously bear trap. There is room to step round it, but they decided to trigger it so it wouldn't block their retreat. When they touch it an illusory section of ceiling disappears and a zombie pleistocene cave bear drops onto the party. "Well, heck, folks, I even told you right up front it was a bear trap..."
Here's a thought that just popped in my head while watching this video. You come to a door that opens up to a large room, but as soon as you open the door to walk in, 4 equally spaced glowing beads materialize in the room. Those beads are delayed blast fireballs. The other problem with this room is that the opposite door won't open unless the 1st door is closed. Closing it sets off the fireballs. The doors are made of heavy iron
Sounds like a real head-scratcher!
@litrpgadventures6902 That a good thing or bad thing?
thinking's good ... mostly harmless?! have a great weekend
four simultaneous fireballs? sounds like an auto-TPK to me...
Sneaky DM's will love this one
Is there any other kind of DM heh
A treasure chest on a raised platform, and the platform is counter weighted, (so a reverse pressure plate), you can add more weight but when you remove enough weight it goes off.
So they usually check the chest for traps, they open it, there is treasure, they take the treasure or grab the chest, all nothing happens. Then they step off the platform.
A room locks its doors when the players enter, and there is a clock that begins counting down from 15 seconds with a button on a pedestal in the center of the room, and a sign that says, "Push to Reset".
The trap is they don't know what will happen if the clock reaches zero, but they can reset the time by pushing the button, really it is just to freak the players out and when they finally let the clock reach zero, the doors open.
It's the little things that can make a D&D trap really memorable!
Pit trap leads into a chute that has had a grease spell cast on it angled at 45 degrees down, 50 feet in length, then splits into 2 branches that are both greased and lead to 2 different levels of the dungeon or cave system.
The split between has to be avoided otherwise you will be trying to go in both directions.
Could add more traps connected to the chutes before they end. My favorite is dropping them into an underground lake in a cavern far below the castle they were trying to raid. Now they have to battle back up to the upper layers
Here is a bit of engagement, then some feedback.
Boardgames make the best traps and dungeons. Designing around boardgame rules while adjusting for the TtRPG you are playing is a great way to make fun and engageing dungeons or traps. Like taking Munchkin, and making a 10 room dungeon (could be with two of the classic 5 room dungeon), then tying the traps to specific rules or elements of that game. The dungeon could be an abandoned overgrown magical zoo, where some of the attractions decided to stay, and new ones moved in. It might have been abandoned due to some disaster just like a flood, earthquake, or magical radiation to give reason for a hasty evacuation. Rewards could be the equipment that the original keepers left behind to help protect themselves or tame the old magical beasts of the old park, while the players will need to use creativity for the newer residence. The equipment could be treated as the equipment in the board rules, giving each weapon or armor a property like "Big" and other traits reflected on the original game's cards. Consumables could include strange liquids found in old food stalls, magical effects in the form of edible plantlife, or hallucinogenic body or waste material from the local fauna. A trap designed this way could have a 10 limit on it, and specific triggers cause the counter to tick up or down. Maybe players need specific trappings or materials to pass through the trap unharmed, or suffer some kind of harmful effect or lose access to specific passages (trapping in or blocking them out). Perhaps the trap is a simple detector that sets off an alarm when it detects enough of the right material or maybe even bio signature, which can be a fear inducing trap when surrounded by hungry magical beasts. Anyway, that's just a method I thought I would share.
Feedback. I don't mind AI, but this might not be a very good use case of it. I would rather listen to AI reading the article than the simulacrum of a conversation this is. It's close to uncanny, and it doesn't have the hum of the human spirit in it. I want real opinions from real people adding commentary to an article that is written. Even an AI generated article would be a good article for commentary, since a machine can't replicate the Wisdom a real person can bring, and would benefit greatly from a human commentary. An AI read article, with a human commentary (and maybe and AI response), would be good too, and can be recorded and edited to cut out the bad AI audio. Sure, it's going to take more work, time, and possibly people, but the quality could be near unmatched. Imho. I also think that the best use of AI is to help improve skills we are not good at while enhancing the one's that we are. I think its cool to use AI (I would), but I think this has no spirit. No pizazz. It's missing its je ne sais quoi.
Thanks for the detailed feedback-and the creative dungeon concept! Using boardgame mechanics as inspiration for traps and dungeons? That’s genius. A Munchkin-inspired magical zoo dungeon with abandoned keepers’ gear and evolving magical beasts is the kind of quirky, engaging setup that would keep any party on their toes. I’m already picturing the chaos of hallucinogenic consumables and ticking traps tied to the dungeon’s "rules." Absolutely love it-thanks for sharing that method!
As for the feedback, totally hear you. Finding that balance between AI and human commentary is key. Adding that “hum of the human spirit” is something I’m always working on-it’s like the final ingredient to make things really resonate. The idea of pairing AI-generated articles with real human commentary (or even a mix of AI-human dialogue) is a solid approach. Appreciate you taking the time to lay out your thoughts-it helps improve what I do. Cheers! 😊
@@litrpgadventures6902 I'm glad I can help 🙂
Why fake a conversartion with AI?
Honey to attract human DMs with decades of experience. If you check comments and the "Community" tab, you can see it's working.
Well met, fellow human! Stay a while?
It feels fake as hell, you can tell they were not actually experiencing the game they said they did in game.
But it is a great creation, kinda like studio Gangsters rapping 😂
Keep asking YT to block this trash but here we are…toxic engagement
Why do you think it's trash, fellow human?
has a single person been involved in making this video or are you guys just bad at acting
Yeah, they take me about 2 to 4 hours each episode, fellow human. Thanks for the input.
@@litrpgadventures6902 saying "fellow human" is doing the opposite of helping your case
@@jannikf2504 Not even a small smile, non-AI entity such as myself?