A to Z Blogging Challenge: T is for Traps

T is for Traps

I’ve talked about story, I’ve talked about monsters, today we talk about traps. Like many older gamers, in my early Dungeons and Dragons games I played a fighter because it was about the easiest class to play. Even though I was playing a fighter, I really enjoyed dealing with traps.

While only the thief could truly find and disarm a trap, our Dungeon Master created his traps in a fairly realistic manner. This meant that usually other characters could lend some assistance by lifting, pushing, or holding mechanisms while the thief worked to disarm the trap. I generally volunteered for assistant duties whenever possible. The assistance made the thief’s job easier, but could leave my character in harm’s way if the thief failed his disarm check.

I’ve tried to emulate those early traps in my own trap designs. I try to make sure every trap I design has a method for those who occupy the area near the trap to bypass or disarm the trap. While this means there’s a possibility the party will disarm the trap more easily than expected, I generally put the mechanism on the opposite side of the trap from where I expect the party to enter. This way they have to safely make their way past the trap in order to find the disarming mechanism.

While I’m sure I’ve made some errors in mechanics or physics when setting up my own trap designs, I hope my players appreciated and enjoyed my efforts as much as I enjoyed my early trap experiences.