I’m always leery about how much information I should post about an upcoming dungeon. Will a player read this post?
Let’s risk it.
This post is about a trick.
On Tricks & Traps in General
Besides those already indicated on the sample level, there are a number of other easily added tricks and traps. The fear of “death,” its risk each time, is one of the most stimulating parts of the game. It therefore behooves the campaign referee to include as many mystifying and dangerous areas as is consistent with a reasonable chance for survival…
Gary Gygax & Dave Arneson,
The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures, p. 6
A 10' spiked pit is a fine trap, but I prefer tricks & traps that are more of a puzzle for the players to solve. By placing this trick at two strategic places in the dungeon, it will have major consequences to the party’s adventures. While the trick is non-lethal on the surface, it could conceivably lead to a party’s demise under the wrong circumstances.
This Trick
Consider the following map fragment. It shows the main1 entrance to the dungeon.
The two intersections (each marked with a star) are what this post is about.
When the party first approaches the intersection, it will be as presented on the map. But every 3 turns thereafter, large blocks (pun intended) raise from the floor to the ceiling to block off some of the passages. The blocks follow this sequence:
A party approaching one of the blocks will think it's a normal part of the dungeon wall.
The Effect
Unless the players happen to be in eye-shot when it happens they won’t know what happened. There’s even some thought that the blocks won’t move if someone is too close to the intersection.
The players will hear a loud “grinding” noise following by a loud “bang” about every half hour (though there might be some variance to that if a wandering monster happens to be near the stones, causing them to delay).
If the players are trying to follow their map back to the surface, only to find the way blocked, they may think that they’re lost and/or made a mistake in mapping.
If they're trying to run away from a pursuing monster, the characters may find the retreat blocked and end up in a losing battle.
The Inspiration
This is not original. This goes all the way back to 1974 with the original publication of Dungeons & Dragons. It’s mentioned in at least two places in Book III:
- In the key to the sample dungeon, it notes that room 6:
‘G’ is a shifting section of wall, with a secret die roll to determine which way it will go: 1 = N., 2 = E., 3 = S., 4 = W., and 5 & 6 it stays put! Such a section will possibly close one of the four corridors, possibly blocking access to/from the trapdoor located in the room 20’ square located in the northwest."
- In the list of sample tricks on page 6, it suggests:
Doors which are openable from one side only, which resist opening from one side, or which appear at random intervals2
That’s it!
That’s it for this week. What do you think? Will the trick be devious? Or is it so old that everyone is expecting it?
Thanks for taking the risk, it was interesting to see!
ReplyDeleteI'm certainly not as savvy on all the various potential dungeon trappings, but I think that how you're presenting the idea helps to keep it fresh and fair.
The audial clues, along with the patterned nature, can help to allow players to figure it out. But there's enough permutations and randomness potential (i.e. monsters delaying) to keep it from being immediately obvious. Could lead to a nice "Aha!" moment, and even after the party figures it out - they don't know the pattern, and it changes from pure mystery to part mystery/part strategy. I think it would help change what would otherwise be a standard dungeon entrance area, to an interesting puzzle the would need continual solving even after being identified.