A Treatise on Traps - How to make TRAPS for D&D (Dungeons & Dragons, OSR)

ko-fi.com/gfcdnd give me some GP for XP, I got sliced, diced, peppered by poison darts, incinerated, urticated, stubbed my toe on a flagstone and perished
Ye get ye flask. Ye hear yon click. What wouldst thou deaux?
Find the table and accompanying blogpost here:
guccifuligincl...

[@ThistleWoe]

One of the most underrated channels on youtube. I find your style so relaxing, your thumbnails hilarious, and your knowledge is to be helpful.

[@gfcsdnd205]

Thanks, I really appreciate that :)

[@vinimagus]

Super 👍 agreed.

[@dylanenriguehuntington2908]

1/1/2 You walk into a long dark hallway, the warm torchlight illuminates the large flagstones that compose the floor, as well as the intricate carvings that the walls of the hall posses, and the pale roots that hang from the ceiling, casting long thin shadows. You notice one of the flagstones seems slightly lower than the others. There's a tripwire directly before the sunk flagstone that causes the trap to activate, the flagstone swings open like a trapdoor causing the player who activated the trap to fall in to a lower level of the dungeon.

[@gfcsdnd205]

I love it, especially the red herring of the sunken flagstone, bait players into thinking pressure pad when it's a trip wire right next to it! Great!

[@JoelHines]

Your brain storming and dungeon videos have been dynamite for helping me chunk out a mega dungeon project. Great knowing that when I see one of your videos drop it will invariably be quality clearly delivered content.

[@gfcsdnd205]

That's what I aim for! Definitely update us on your megadungeon!

[@humps9000]

Your work is wonderful, and I think it's so essential because not everyone has your gift for taking each game concept apart into its basic and most important elements. Your tables have more logic and consideration than those developed in the Advanced game. I think it would be generous and helpful if you made a blog post about the common methods you use when breaking down and building back up the game mechanics. Thank you.

[@gfcsdnd205]

Thank you very much, it really does mean a lot! That's a great idea for a blog post, I'll have to think about how I would even go about writing that!

[@PanSemSousa]

I discovered this channel a few days ago and it is already one of my two favorite channels of the genre. Your videos are sublime. It is obvious that you know a lot. I want to see many more videos. Many more!!! Please keep going, you're great.

[@gfcsdnd205]

Thank you, I will!

[@Rurikun]

Great video again, thanks for this! The only downside is the lack of a downloadable file or link to a blog post. On the three monkey trap, I would remove the 1 damage to everyone in the room and replace it with deafness for a turn... enough time to get surprised by wandering monsters. Definitely going to use this!

[@gfcsdnd205]

I added a blogpost linked in the description, thank you!

[@arnovanboxem2519]

really nice videos man. I'm binging them in exam season rip. I really love your approach to dungeons I only made like 5 room dungeons up till now, but I'll make a huge dungeon now. I hope my players will enjoy this.

[@gfcsdnd205]

Exams come and go, strict time records are forever. Please share your dungeon and let us know how it goes!

[@arnovanboxem2519]

@@gfcsdnd205 I will all your videos together make an awesome mega dungeon. But I guess that was the whole point :p I'm thinking about doing an west marches style game and will try to implement your hexcrawl style as well. Pretty new to DMing so your direct approach is really helping out

[@gfcsdnd205]

@@arnovanboxem2519 I'm glad to hear it, I'd love to know how it goes!

[@vinimagus]

Great video!! The slides, the content, the narration. Thank you! 😊

[@gfcsdnd205]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it.

[@tatuira93]

I'm making a few random tables and was looking into traps, I was using the Dungeon Builder's Guidebook for reference, but this seems to make a lot more sense, and it's much simpler, thanks.

[@gfcsdnd205]

I'm glad it's useful for you!

[@Jimmy7345-g5b]

Subbed for the great content and the Severian channel icon

[@gfcsdnd205]

Welcome to the Order

[@konatelassina5301]

Love your content! Keep it coming!!!

[@gfcsdnd205]

Thank you! I will!

[@leviritter6279]

Another winning video. Would love some more real use examples of traps that can be used in a dungeon and how to telegraph them.

[@gfcsdnd205]

Of course! Try a few on your own and see what you come up with ;)

[@Metoollhead]

3/3/5: False Mechanism, Crushing or Paralyzing / Strange Material or Damage: A door in the dungeon that looks like the rest of the doors, except instead of a regular handle there's a rope jutting out of it. It's attached to some explosive that blows the door up in the face of whoever pulls on the cord. Tying a rope to the cord and pulling it from afar will bypass the damage!

[@gfcsdnd205]

My dumb ass would pull the rope and get dusted, great trap!

[@MrArchonAlarion]

Just saw this in the OSRG

[@gfcsdnd205]

I biffed it the first time LOL

[@cajbajthewhite4889]

@@gfcsdnd205 I thought the jannies removed it honestly. Whenever I link something I made it gets nuked. Glad it's intact 👌👌

[@gfcsdnd205]

@@cajbajthewhite4889 nah im just a dingus

[@jonhadley5768]

I'm starting to realize why I had such a difficult time running tomb of the serpent king for my group of new players. I did a very bad job of letting them find and interact with the large amount of traps in that dungeon. Need to telegraph more info.

[@gfcsdnd205]

Live and learn! That's what improvement is all about!

[@THEFabianValenzuela]

I've heard commenting helps the algorithm.

[@gfcsdnd205]

I've heard replying to comments does, too!

[@nathankelley1466]

What sort of buffs do you suggest for the thief or rogue for the encroachment? Do you mean something as simple as giving a thief a d6 HD rather than d4, or pumping up the other thieves skills?

[@gfcsdnd205]

D6 HD, buffing skills, saves, damage when attacking an unaware opponent, it's going to take some fine-tuning on the part of the referee but it's pretty hard to make thieves overpowered when cleric exists

[@nathankelley1466]

@@gfcsdnd205 I agree. Thieves tend to get the short end of the stick, especially when you consider the procedural things that put thieves in the front of the party.

[@vinimagus]

So would you say that, for the unexperienced DM, a puzzle is potentially a safer bet than a trap?

[@gfcsdnd205]

Not necessarily, but do whatever you're comfortable with for sure!

[@user-jq1mg2mz7o]

5/5/3 : push or pull/terrain destruction/violates a pattern the dungeon is a tomb built by an ancient civilisation capable of magnificent feats of stonemasonry. largely comprised of smooth walls, with doors barely visible recessed into walls that must be pushed and slid open. the players may or may not forget this as they traverse it, which will bite them in the rear when they come across a door made of strong metal, with a clearly signposted pull-handle on it, leading off a sharp corner. the door was installed by later generations of maintenance worker-slaves from a less enlightened successor civilisation, that leads "out" of the tomb proper into a cave system to throw away rubbish from visitors. in the past the cave system was just an ad-hoc, later-added disposal area but in the centuries hence it has become filled to the brim by chalk/salted/magic/cursed water from aquifers when this door is pulled and slid open (another warning sign is the water pressure from the other side pushing the door towards the players once they start to undo its safety mechanisms), the water spills into the tight corridors of the tomb and begins dissolving the floor. (would probably signpost sounds of water on this side of the tomb vs. complete silence in other sections)

[@gfcsdnd205]

I love this! I can see the door being very tempting to players!

[@janmartense]

can you elaborate on terrain destruction?

[@gfcsdnd205]

Sure! This can be thing like cave-ins, collapsing walls, crumbling floors, breaking ropes, smashed bridges, flooded caves, smashed doors, really anything you like!

[@joeseatat]

This explanation of traps makes it sound fun for the players. A puzzle to solve. And, just because they don't get squashed by the trap doesn't mean they aren't wasting valuable resources. How about the valuable resource of TIME. Track that time, folks. I will definitely be using those tables and tips. Thank you!

[@gfcsdnd205]

Thanks, I'm glad it was helpful!

[@admiralsnackbar2811]

I placed a stone warrior statue against a wall, it had blue gems for eyes but was missing one. Finding the missing gem, found in a separate room and placing it in the empty eye socket will cause the statue to move to the side. This reveals a cache of gold coins under the statue. If the players get greedy and try to take the eye gems the statue comes to life, steps off its stone pedestal and attacks. Roll for surprise and begin combat.

[@gfcsdnd205]

This is so good I just might steal it ;) how did your players like it?

[@jebibones4282]

Nice, I've been researching the topic of traps and how to implement them in dungeons. So far this "interactive" trap finding and disabling its the most fun way of doing it, however it may in a sense nerf the need of a thief in the party as rolls aren't that much needed. I believe OSE uses the trap skills only for treasure chests as it divides the types of traps into "room traps" and "treasure traps." However besides poison needles there isn't a reason to roll and most "treasure related" traps can be handle the same way as room traps.

[@jebibones4282]

Btw this is a bit off-topic but I haven't find a good way of implementing equipment wear and tear without "bloating" the item rules and keep the OSR spirit. In the cases where stuff breaks is mostly predetermined by the DM and I was looking for something similar to the "Shields shall sunder" houserule, do you by any chance have a system in place for that?

[@gfcsdnd205]

@@jebibones4282 Yeah, thieves are already pretty weak and it does feel a bit like kicking them while they're down. Upgrading their HD or buffing their saves makes them better frontline scouts, as well as increasing their damage (maybe they do max damage if they hit during a surprise round). As far as equipment degradation, I don't have any houserules on it as such but using water features like underground ponds and rivers sometimes forces players to shed their backpacks or drown, and can ruin rations or torches. Rust monsters are always fun (for the referee at least), and I came up with a particularly annoying monster that likes to steal and eat lit torches and then belch fire at the players!

[@jebibones4282]

@@gfcsdnd205 ah yes, the classic rust monster or equipment eating slimes. I suppose i should the own dungeon as a way for players to think more about what they carry and what not to.

[@gfcsdnd205]

@@jebibones4282 Absolutely!

[@MrRourk]

Easy pezzy put a successful use of lockpick tool required to disable trap. Who is going to have the best chance of doing that?

[@someguy403]

Your videos and blog are really helpful, I always look forward to them!

[@gfcsdnd205]

Thank you!

[@PTLANS]

Since when are DMs/GMs called referee?

[@gfcsdnd205]

DM is actually a D&D specific term, GM is more general, but I prefer "referee" because it best describes the role as an arbiter

[@PTLANS]

@@gfcsdnd205 Fair enough. I just think sports every time.

[@wurzzzz]

Referee was the original term found in the oldest editions of D&D. It comes from the tradition of tabletop wargaming out of which D&D was born. It is actually a better term than GM or DM as the term "Master" may imply an adversarial relationship with the players. Referee or Judge are terms that correctly convey the role of the non-playing individual as a neutral arbiter of the rules, world, monsters, and NPCs.

[@aquarat1]

keep the videos coming, dude; ur content is great.

[@gfcsdnd205]

Thanks man!

[@JenxRodwell]

Another excellent video, and a very useful one too!

[@gfcsdnd205]

Thank you! I'm glad it's useful

[@JenxRodwell]

@@gfcsdnd205 You're quite welcome! I've watched all of your videos and I really enjoy your clear presentation style and I am looking forward to watching more from you!

[@Aaron-mj9ie]

How often should one deploy traps? How common should they be in any particular dungeon?

[@SneakyRANGERREX]

It varies by particular flavor of game but if you're playing a more classic variant either B/X or AD&D I like to think in terms of number of Elements per 20 Rooms and use the stocking tables as a reference. So If I'm using specifically B/X I'd gun for using anywhere from 1 to 3 Traps per 20 rooms for an average Dungeon level. For more information there is a blog called Melancholies & Mirth that has a pdf document on OSR Style Dungeon construction where he lays out what he believes are the best mathematical principles to follow in classic dungeon design and even gives advice on non-linear paths and such.

[@gfcsdnd205]

B/X recommends roughly 1 in 6 rooms should be trapped, pretty dense for my taste. I usually just trap any significant hoard of treasure or defensible choke point of a lair.

[@sekcer9873]

@@SneakyRANGERREX What is the post name? Can you leave a link?

[@slushbubs]

@@sekcer9873 I've been looking but can't find it myself

[@SneakyRANGERREX]

@@sekcer9873 I attempted to leave a link but they filter comments that link anything as Spam best I can do is it's among the items on the right side when viewing the blog on your desktop. There is a link called "How to make an OSR Dungeon pdf" it'll take you to a google drive page with a 20 something page PDF with advice and rational for Dungeon construction.

[@megamonstercookies]

You’re so goooooood

[@gfcsdnd205]

Thank you!!!

[@Metoollhead]

Good stuff!

[@gfcsdnd205]

Thanks!

[@kenefactor3764]

1/1/5 Tripwire, Displacement, Strange Material or Damage. The first level of a dungeon has 10'x10' wooden floor sections in the hallways, three in total. Each has a tripwire which makes the whole platform drop to the next floor, roll minor fall damage and for monsters investigating the noise. The tripwires are quite visible if someone stops to look for anything. The lower level has four 10'x10' sections of recessed floor with a wooden "ceiling", three corresponding to the traps on the previous floor. The fourth is near the treasure vault and is the only one with a tripwire in the recessed floor - triggering this will drop a wooden platform loaded with poison gas clay urns directly onto the poor sap. Alternatively, make the visible treasure vault a fake and hide the real one in the ceiling here.

[@brothereduard4541]

Very practical advice. Thank you. I have wanted to step up my traps. I agree I find that springing traps on my party almost creates a death spiral of tediousness as they begin searching every 10 feet of a featureless 100-foot corridor.

[@kellvalar8573]

You are a great content creator. I especially loved your long vids.

[@gfcsdnd205]

Thank you very much!

[@andrewhaldenby4949]

Really excellent video on a difficult subject - thank you. I find what helps me is to think who sets the trap and why. Eg in the current adventure, some ancient skeletons are trying to trap some kobolds alive. Meanwhile the kobolds just want to trap and destroy the skeletons

[@gfcsdnd205]

Definitely a good aspect to keep in mind, thank you!

[@derekburge5294]

Finally someone fixed the clipping problem! Was getting real tired of that one.

[@gfcsdnd205]

up to my elbows in spaghetti but it had to be done

[@sekcer9873]

If you want to expand the tables of Mechanism and Consequence I recomend using the ones in Maze Rats

[@gfcsdnd205]

I wasn't aware this existed, thanks for pointing it out!

[@user__214]

Great video! 3:42 makes me want to ask, what is your view on resource management in dungeons? The ultimate resource is time, and the usual thought is that time *has* to matter in a dungeoncrawl. If time doesn't matter, then the players can adopt a successful but un-fun playstyle of never risking anything. They can rest as much as they want, they won't run into extra monsters just because they're taking a long time. If they fail at lockpicking, they can just try 10 more times, because time doesn't matter. So it's commonly prescribed that time matters in a dungeoncrawl, and the passing of time triggers random encounters, wind that blows torches out, etc. Do you run games that way? If you *don't* run games that way, how do you encourage players to engage with the dungeon in a way that still creates risk and tension?

[@gfcsdnd205]

I always keep strict time records! I think my video on "how to run your first dungeon" goes over it, but basically in my notes I make a box with a cross in it to signify an hour passing (one stroke per turn, takes six strokes total) and roll for random encounters as prescribed in B/X.

[@user__214]

@@gfcsdnd205 Ok, cool. I guess I was confused by you calling wandering monsters a frustrating solution here, since wandering monsters are one of the typical consequences of the passage of time. I guess you were talking specifically in the context of traps? Like... "don't make bad traps and then use wandering monsters to push your players through them."

[@gfcsdnd205]

@@user__214 Correct; wandering monster rolls on their own are not frustrating, but combined with randomly placed traps can lead to this scenario: players spend every turn carefully inspecting each flagstone in the hallway, tapping everything with their 10' pole, moving at a totally glacial pace so as to avoid falling in the spiked pits that they know are *somewhere* in this huge labyrinth. This can be excruciatingly boring, so to encourage players to move faster, more monsters show up the longer you spend in the dungeon. Now the players are forced to abandon that carefulness... and promptly blunder into traps that they just didn't have time to check for. At the end of the day you've robbed your players of tactical choice and agency: either the solution is obvious - it makes sense to check every inch of the dungeon - and therefore requires no tactics on the players' part, or the solution is RNG - we have time to check two or three sections of the dungeon, just pick some at random and hope it's a trap.* Either way the players aren't making meaningful decisions. With the way I've proposed, the players are encouraged to explore and interact with the fiction of the world. Instead of rolling 1d6 to check for traps because that's just what you do, they carefully inspect the brilliantly brown copper statue in the room because the rest of this room is dank and untouched for years, why is there no oxidization on this copper statue? Shouldn't it be green? Something's amiss with it. & c. * Now there's definitely ways to mitigate this RNG, e.g. treasure rooms and faction leader lairs are more likely to be trapped, sure. But that still leaves the pernicious problem of the odd hallway trap or "trap room" - and even in the case of the treasure room, how will the referee decide *what* is trapped in the room? A random chest has a poisoned needle in the lock? Okay... but what about rolling 2/4/2 (weight difference, poison or water, juts or recedes) and coming up with a balcony overlooking a sea of gold coins that comes up to just about a foot under where they stand, undulating and pulsing in the torchlight? The seasoned crawler might key in on the word "undulating" and ask exactly what I mean by that - the coins are rolling like waves before their very eyes? But the foolhardy player might leap from the balcony into the sea of coins - and find that it is, in fact, a literal pool of water with a thin layer of fake coins on top. Too late, though, as his chain armor has already dragged him down to the bottom of the pool, where his bones will lay with the real coins and gems until the party finds a way to drain the water and access the treasure and corpses of other former unfortunates. But that's just how I like to play!!!

[@user__214]

@@gfcsdnd205 Makes total sense now. Thank you!

[@MrOdrzut]

Just give thief passive trap-tell-detection bonus.

[@Avoloch]

i love the twitter frog memes

[@sebastiang7528]

This is some really clear and valuable advice. Easily the best video ok traps I’ve come across. Well done!

[@gfcsdnd205]

Thank you! I'm glad you found it helpful, let us know some of the traps you come up with!

[@sebastiang7528]

@@gfcsdnd205 I used this method in the last sessions. The corridor had a hidden pressure plate that triggered flamethrowers that spewed fire from the ceiling. I told the players that they could see scorch marks on the floor. They understood that there was a trap there but didn't really make an effort to disarm it, they described how they threw some rocks down the hallways to see if anything happened, which it didn't. So the next thing I know one of the players just declares that he walks down the hallways without a care in the world... Suffice to say, he was a bit chocked when his character almost died from the burns... But we all had a good laugh at his lack of patience.

[@gfcsdnd205]

@@sebastiang7528 "There are old adventurers, and there are bold adventurers, but there are no old, bold adventurers"

[@sebastiang7528]

@@gfcsdnd205 Very true 😄

[@tomohiro1399]

6/3/3 A floor made of white and black tiles, half of it is mostly white half of it is mostly black. Corpses can be found scattered randomly but never on odd tiles (no corpses on the white spaces on the black half and vice versa). Characters will have to avoid touching black on the black half and avoid white on the white half.