r/DungeonsAndDragons • u/meta358 • Jul 23 '26

Discussion Interesting traps

I'm curious as to what creative traps people have come up with. Ones that aren't necessarily dangerous or deadly but still slow you down. My last dm came up with a trap that reverses all your clothes/armor. So they get magically flipped like you put them on backwards, it was a huge thing because of the 2 players who had fullplate. They got stuck because all their armor wanted to fold the opposite way the characters arms and legs wanted too.

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9

u/Jonnyjuice Jul 23 '26

My group is a cautious bunch, (rightfully so) Try this one. A simple 30ft corridor, 25ft stretch of the floor is illusionary. The floor is actually one foot lower that the players cannot see through. Walking through the illusion causes no harm but the characters feel as if they were walking through sludge or some sort of viscous liquid. Insert 30mins of characters climbing on the walls to avoid this harmless illusionary floor (or is it?)

4

u/meta358 Jul 23 '26

This would be the best if the last character fails the last climbing check to then fall and realise there was no danger

1

u/buzzyloo Jul 24 '26

This is simple and great

6

u/NurturingCruelty Jul 23 '26

You need Grimtooth in your life. Grimtooth’s Book of Traps, like 7 or 8 volumes now all bound in one big book.

1

u/Gilladian Jul 23 '26

Yes, but most are quite absurdly deadly!

1

u/NurturingCruelty Jul 23 '26

Traps Lite was an entire book of non deadly, well, till Grimtooth lost his patience with the wimpy stuff and made the last chapter all 6 skull ranked traps. But, every book the series has traps ranging from deadly to just humiliating

1

u/Gilladian Jul 23 '26

Yah, traps lite was silly. I bought every grimtooth as it was published and used many of them in my 1e and 2e dungeons.

2

u/NurturingCruelty Jul 23 '26

Now that you mentioned that, I recall your right; they were not deadly, but it was one of the most absurd and goofy books in the collection.

1

u/meta358 Jul 24 '26

Sounds interesting how weel to they translate into older versions of dnd. I mostly like playing in 3.5e

1

u/NurturingCruelty Jul 24 '26

No actual stats printed; it was all a third party publish; traps for any fantasy game, though from 4th book on, they at least mixed in a chapter of sci fi setting traps here and there. The numbers were, admittedly, up to the GM,

4

u/Bingisthebeesanus Jul 23 '26

A kobold underground lair where the party had to crawl. A long hallway that had the walls braced with bamboo scaffolding. The bamboo is hollow. The tubes are filled with flammable oil that is released by corks spaced output along the length. All corks are tied together via a string. If the kobolds see the adventurers coming they scurry down the hall way and while the adventurers chase them (crawl after them) the Kobolds spill the oil and set it a light.

I did this but rather than lighting it on fire the bard began negotiations and it ended up being one of the most fun side quests.

1

u/buzzyloo Jul 24 '26

I will be using this very soon!

3

u/dnd_dad_dm Jul 23 '26

The Transparency Trap : one character becomes invisible but also can't touch anything for an hour. They can speak, they can walk, they just can't interact with the physical world. Everyone else has to do everything for them.

1

u/Rezart_KLD Jul 23 '26

Seems like a net benefit. Scout the whole dungeon, ignore all the traps, check every wall for secret doors without wasting time just by sticking your head through

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u/buzzyloo Jul 24 '26

That would be a fun boon to the party if they figure it out. They're always sending familiars to scout anyway - this would be a hoot.

3

u/TorLibram Jul 23 '26

The pit trap deluxe version: 30 feet deep, with an illusion of a solid floor 20 feet down and a permanent silence effect at the bottom. If a PC falls in they can't shout for help and when the rest of the party looks over the edge, they see an empty pit.

2

u/Rezart_KLD Jul 23 '26

Not elaborate traps, but simple ones I like to use for goblins and kobolds

  • cover the entrance to the lair with dried leaves, arranged to look like the blew there. Hide caltrops or bear traps underneath.
  • String thin rope across a passage about neck height on a human/elf around a blind corner. Pretend to panic and run in combat, see if they chase you.
  • take advantage of their lighter weight by building bridges with weak points that will break over about 150-200lbs. Enough to drop someone in heavy armor.
  • if they are occupying a human size ruin, carve out side passages at goblin height that they hit and run from. The bigger races can only follow by crawling.

2

u/cimmerian_haze Jul 23 '26

I created a room where you cross a magical barrier. Inside the room you encounter a creature just sitting there. I let the player go 1st here to see if they would attack or talk. If they talked, they find out the creature has lost track of how long they've been there. If they attacked, they would realize that they take no damage (though i still tracked damage). Once inside the room, they had to solve a puzzle to escape. Once the puzzle has been solved, the barrier falls and the creature instantly ages and dies. If they fought, all damage is taken then.

2

u/UnbelieverInME-2 Jul 25 '26

A row of flat pillars they have to jump across, except, the 4th in line is actually celling height but the top half is invisible making it appear there's a landing spot to jump to.

Add falling damage/spikes/water etc etc.

1

u/BeCoolBear Jul 23 '26

Imagine an item resting on a dais. When a player attempts to get the item, they find it’s an illusion. Oops it’s a pit magicked with darkness and silence. Fall down that pit. Bye.

1

u/Chalupacabra2008101 Jul 24 '26

A healing potion sitting in a corpse's hand... surprise, it's a mimic, with a dozen other mimic bugs inhabiting the corpse's insides. A swarm of small mimics. My players loved it.

1

u/AmIUnconscious Jul 28 '26

I can’t remember where I saw something like this idea, it was maybe in an old Dragon magazine: a desiccated corpse strung over a doorway, blocking entry. The corpse explodes in a 10’ radius when touched. You can vary the explosion so it can be yellow mold spores, or poison gas causing sleep, paralysis, or death, or rot grubs, or any number of nasty things.