Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2013 13:52:08 GMT
Now first, I can't take total credit for this concept, but I tweaked the idea a bit to add more interaction for the players.
Initial Encounter.
The DM has a lot of flexibility on how the trap triggers initially, but here are a few examples.
A) The trigger is a person of the wrong alignment who attempts to activate an enchanted object.
B) The trigger is an arcane glyph which activates in the presence of the wrong type of creature getting close to it.
C) The trigger is a magical area attack that an opponent unleashes on the players.
D) The trigger is stepping through a trapped magical portal.
E) The trigger is standing and looking into an enchanted mirror.
The Effect.
The player characters who fail saving throws get teleported into the starting area (area 1) of a multi-area teleportation maze trap, the various areas of the trap are each stocked with traps, challenging terrain (chasm, flame pit, rising water level, sliding spike walls, etc) and/or monsters (particularly constructs or magically animated critters, and undead), each area may see the players return to it multiple times, so they reset and restock after each use, also, Dungeon master might like to add extra dramatic tension by having the threat level of each area get higher with each return visit.
The Interaction.
Each room has a teleportation zone that activates when players reach and trigger it, when this happens, the player who activates it gets to roll a dice to determine which area they teleport to next.
Each area has an assigned number, and there are as many areas as the dice you choose to use, the simple trap uses a d4, an insanity level trap uses d100 (please don't ever do this to your players, they would be justified in lynching you).
The exit to the maze is always the highest number on the dice and here is the fun part for the players.. in each area, there is an object, well guarded and risky to acquire, which adds a +1 bonus to the dice roll, the more of them they get, the better the odds they will escape the maze.
I would also suggest you have higher number areas be a little harder on the players, but not much harder, and lower number areas be more time consuming and frustrating to get to the end of (because this makes the dice roll to teleport really critical and fun).
The conclusion.
Once the players roll maximum on their teleportation dice, they exit the maze and it shuts down or resets, and the players gain a very healthy respect for that sort of trap in the future.. when the DM says "Its a teleport maze trap, and it looks more powerful from the last one you encountered" you can expect some very inventive and heart felt reactions from your players!
Also, its the DM's option, player characters who die in the maze might stay in the maze, so a party might have to go back in to recover a corpse for resurrection, and I suggest adding really cool objects in the rooms that can not be teleported out of the room (but be wary of players who figure out they can shave slivers off a throne of pure gold!).
In a Nutshell.
Difficulty of the trap determines what dice to use.
There are a number of rooms equal to the numbers of the dice.
Teleporting player rolls the dice to determines which room they go to.
Objects collected in each room add +1 bonus to the teleportation roll.
Rooms restock (and may get harder) each time they are visited.
Rolling maximum on the teleportation dice free's the players.
Additional Variations.
If the trap's dice number has multiple digits, you can assign key thematic effects to specific numbers, thus, if the number One involves Water, and Seven involves Snakes, a result of Seventeen on a dice roll would be something like a fight in a boat versus a Sea Serpent, so just pick a theme for each number, Zero to Nine, and figure out how they work together.
Also, this is a magical teleportation trap, so why restrict yourself to going from room to room? How about dimension to dimension, or continent to continent.. if you have a watery trap with aquatic kobolds who spit acid, have it take place thousands of miles from the location of the trap.. if the players want to get back, they have to reach the portal and try their luck, otherwise they are stranded in an unknown, dangerous location. (of course, this kinda sucks for everyone, so make sure you leave a means to get back, even if it involves another fight, or some short quest, nothing that stops your game's story in it's tracks).
Enjoy!
Initial Encounter.
The DM has a lot of flexibility on how the trap triggers initially, but here are a few examples.
A) The trigger is a person of the wrong alignment who attempts to activate an enchanted object.
B) The trigger is an arcane glyph which activates in the presence of the wrong type of creature getting close to it.
C) The trigger is a magical area attack that an opponent unleashes on the players.
D) The trigger is stepping through a trapped magical portal.
E) The trigger is standing and looking into an enchanted mirror.
The Effect.
The player characters who fail saving throws get teleported into the starting area (area 1) of a multi-area teleportation maze trap, the various areas of the trap are each stocked with traps, challenging terrain (chasm, flame pit, rising water level, sliding spike walls, etc) and/or monsters (particularly constructs or magically animated critters, and undead), each area may see the players return to it multiple times, so they reset and restock after each use, also, Dungeon master might like to add extra dramatic tension by having the threat level of each area get higher with each return visit.
The Interaction.
Each room has a teleportation zone that activates when players reach and trigger it, when this happens, the player who activates it gets to roll a dice to determine which area they teleport to next.
Each area has an assigned number, and there are as many areas as the dice you choose to use, the simple trap uses a d4, an insanity level trap uses d100 (please don't ever do this to your players, they would be justified in lynching you).
The exit to the maze is always the highest number on the dice and here is the fun part for the players.. in each area, there is an object, well guarded and risky to acquire, which adds a +1 bonus to the dice roll, the more of them they get, the better the odds they will escape the maze.
I would also suggest you have higher number areas be a little harder on the players, but not much harder, and lower number areas be more time consuming and frustrating to get to the end of (because this makes the dice roll to teleport really critical and fun).
The conclusion.
Once the players roll maximum on their teleportation dice, they exit the maze and it shuts down or resets, and the players gain a very healthy respect for that sort of trap in the future.. when the DM says "Its a teleport maze trap, and it looks more powerful from the last one you encountered" you can expect some very inventive and heart felt reactions from your players!
Also, its the DM's option, player characters who die in the maze might stay in the maze, so a party might have to go back in to recover a corpse for resurrection, and I suggest adding really cool objects in the rooms that can not be teleported out of the room (but be wary of players who figure out they can shave slivers off a throne of pure gold!).
In a Nutshell.
Difficulty of the trap determines what dice to use.
There are a number of rooms equal to the numbers of the dice.
Teleporting player rolls the dice to determines which room they go to.
Objects collected in each room add +1 bonus to the teleportation roll.
Rooms restock (and may get harder) each time they are visited.
Rolling maximum on the teleportation dice free's the players.
Additional Variations.
If the trap's dice number has multiple digits, you can assign key thematic effects to specific numbers, thus, if the number One involves Water, and Seven involves Snakes, a result of Seventeen on a dice roll would be something like a fight in a boat versus a Sea Serpent, so just pick a theme for each number, Zero to Nine, and figure out how they work together.
Also, this is a magical teleportation trap, so why restrict yourself to going from room to room? How about dimension to dimension, or continent to continent.. if you have a watery trap with aquatic kobolds who spit acid, have it take place thousands of miles from the location of the trap.. if the players want to get back, they have to reach the portal and try their luck, otherwise they are stranded in an unknown, dangerous location. (of course, this kinda sucks for everyone, so make sure you leave a means to get back, even if it involves another fight, or some short quest, nothing that stops your game's story in it's tracks).
Enjoy!