Trapped Rooms
Trapped Rooms or Passages
Sometimes the party knows a room or passageway is full of traps, and just wants to get through them all without dying. Traps are always a tricky proposition for a GM, since they're not actually all that exciting for players, even when they're playing the thief who can actually disarm them. For the thief, it's just a skill check, and for everyone else, their health and well-being hinges on just how good that skill check comes out. Not exciting, just annoying. Instead, make it a group check, after someone spots the first trap, to have everyone try to navigate through this parade of swinging-blade-, poison-dart-, spiked pit-, sharks with laser beams-filled Hallway of Death™.
- Everyone in the party rolls an Acrobatics or Movement check (their choice) against an Average DC for the Challenge Rating of the traps or area. The players need a number of successes equal to to the number of party members present (including any NPC's).
- Cruel Traps: If the traps the party are attempting to bypass were created by highly intelligent trapsmiths, renowned for their ability to create clever and unpredictable traps, increase the target DC to Challenging, or even (rarely) Hard.
- Sloppy Traps: If the traps were hastily created, or made from scavenged junk by idiots or crazy people (like goblins), consider reducing the target DC to Easy.
- Mounted: If the party is mounted (or has pack animals), increase the number of required successes by half the number of mounts present (round down, minimum 1). Mounts can be really hard to lead around a series of pressure plates in a floor.
- Clever Mounts: If a mount knows the Entertain or Perform tricks (see Handle Animal), their rider may, if they wish, roll a skill check for the mount using the rider's own skill, and add this result to the overall tally for the party. If the rider prefers the mount doesn't roll (because their own skill isn't great), they can elect not to add their mount's roll into the mix instead. Useful!
- Clumsy: If the party isn't really in control of its own movements (because they're drunk, or the trapped hallway is a slope covered in ice, etc.), increase the difficulty category by one step (e.g. Average to Challenging).
- In a Hurry: If the party wants to move at full speed, increase the difficulty category by one step (e.g. Average to Challenging). This includes double moves. If the party wants to run through the trap-riddled murder palace, increase the difficulty by two steps (e.g. Average to Hard). If the difficulty category would ever be raised above Impossible, increase the number of required successes by 3 for each step above impossible. Good luck with that.
Group Skill Check Outcomes
- Success: If the party equals or exceeds the number of required successes, they manage to navigate the area without setting anything off.
- Almost, Not Quite: If the party rolls 1 or 2 fewer successes than the required number, they make it most of the way through, but make one little mistake.
1d6 Consequences 1 The party arrives at the end of the trapped passage (or the exit of the room) Prone and a stone door closes, sealing off the passage they just came from. The only way out is through! 2 The party almost makes it through, when a trap door opens beneath their feet, dropping them 30 feet to a level below where they were (and causing them to take 3d6 falling damage). Then the trap door slams shut, leaving no indication it was ever there. The party's avenue of retreat is now uncertain unless they can find a way back up. 3 Someone steps on the wrong thing, and a bright flash goes off. Everyone in the party becomes Blind to all sight-based senses for 1d4 minutes. During this time they hear large sections of stone moving around. When the blindness wears off, the area has completely rearranged itself. 4 5 6
- Moderate Failure: If the party rolls 3 or 4 fewer successes than the required number, they make it most of the way through, except for that tripline no one saw. The party takes 1d4 points of (bludgeoning, fire, acid, psychic, etc. -- pick one) damage per CR of the traps in this area. They can reduce this damage individually if they have ER or DR of the appropriate type.
- Abject Failure: If the party misses the required number of successes by 5 or more (or simply fail to achieve any successes), they try their best, but just keep falling for some new trigger. Multiple traps are set off. Everyone must make a Reflex versus an Average DC for the CR of the traps in this area. Those who fail the save take 1d6+1 points of (bludgeoning, fire, acid, psychic, etc. -- pick one) damage per CR of the traps in this area and are Crippled until cured. Those who succeed on the save take only half damage and are Impaired until cured.
As with the other examples, these results should be changed up each time, but can be used as a guideline for what is reasonable.
- Instead of simple damage from a moderate failure, maybe the party's next encounter is an ambush, since they made so much noise getting there that the monsters had time to prepare for them.
- For the worst failures, instead of Impaired and Crippled, any other moderate and weak status condition could be chosen. Coupled with damage, this uses up valuable resources in the party, and makes the next encounters more dangerous, especially if they happen while the party is still trying to recover. Alternatively, maybe the traps only do a bit of damage, but they make so much noise that an encounter occurs right away. Worse yet, the encounter happens when the party's back is to the trapped hallway, and the monsters are smart enough to do bull rushes, forcing the party back into the hazardous terrain if they can.
As you can see, group skill checks are extremely useful ways to quickly abstract part of an adventure when the action might otherwise lag. They're simple to adjudicate on the fly, and can still be exciting for a party if applied well.