Between The Walls

Hello all, it’s time for another installment of the RPG Tactics Blog. This time around, I’d like to discuss traps in an RPG. Plots often have their own twists and turns built in, sometimes to the point of being cliché; but what about a good dungeon crawl, or the search for someone through winding streets?

Often the way to make this more interesting (while still introducing conflict) is an ambush or trap of some sort, but how does one go about it? There are many great ways that can be used at times, often to great effect. A good ambush or pitfall can put the players on edge, and raise their suspicions in a way that a straight ‘point a to point b’ interaction could never do. Planning these events out takes only a little effort on the GM’s part, and they can be a regular feature of adventures, but using them too often gets boring.

A great example is a pitfall trap in a dungeon delve. The characters are ambling along in a corridor, when suddenly the floor gives way beneath their feet and drops them several feet into a deep hole. There may be spikes, water, opponents, treasure or any combination of things at the end of the fall. There may be a new passageway they did not know about, or no escape except a tricky climb back out of the pit. If done differently a few times over the course of a campaign, it can provide an excellent challenge to the players.

Another classic item from dungeon delves could provide one of the greatest traps (and sources of player paranoia): the secret door. The door itself could be trapped in some fashion, but one of the best ways to fool someone is to have the door open onto a passage which after a short time provides its own trap - perhaps a dead end that once reached closes the door, locking the characters inside. Maybe a hidden jug of acid falls upon the first person to enter the newly exposed corridor, or even a monster is somehow released on the far end.

Whether hidden or not, a dead end can be a trap in and of itself. Perhaps a group of investigators have followed their nemesis through a dark alley, only to come up against a building or fence with no way over it. Behind them, henchmen await, ready to pounce while the heroes search for a way over or around the obstacles in question. The same scenario could be applied to inside a building or alien ship just as easily as it could a temple to a dark god. Placing the same style of challenge in a natural setting (such as a canyon or cave) would make for an interesting attack during someone’s travels.

As with every minor plot device, the GM must be careful not to overuse the dead-end trap too much; after a while, players become suspicious of such events as seeing a branch from their path where there is no exit but by which way they came in. Even if on this newest occasion there is great gain to be made, the players will often say “No, no, don’t go that way! It may be a trap, and we need our strength!” When that is the attitude the players show towards anything in a game, the GM has failed them; when it’s the attitude the characters themselves take, it’s a sign that the GM has done their job well.

Hopefully this brief foray into traps has been of some minor inspiration. Too often, a game lacks such devices when it could have been made more believable or interesting by the inclusion of some sort of challenge that was not directly related to the characters’ goals.