For those following this blog, I am proud to announce that I have posted a guest post on Tribality on the subject of traps.
Trap Article
Traps are a thing that has an incredible amount of potential, but sadly are often used very poorly. The basic way to use them, as described in the DMG, is to have the party use their passive perception to tell if they spot the trap, and then make a roll to see if they manage to successfully disarm it. This method gives no challenge to the players, has no decision for them to make, and is basically just a penalty for having poor perception.
Even if the DM try to fix this by giving clues in the description, they often have trouble doing so. It’s tricky to give clues that are obvious enough to be fair, without giving the game away outright. Enter my article, in which I explore different ways to give clues that are fair but not too revealing.
I also discuss traps that are obviously there, but that you have to deduce how they work, and traps that you have to guess at by analysis of the villain’s behavior. Then there’s the not-so-small matter of how to keep the rolls relevant in your game after making the traps be solved via mundane deduction. After all, if you remove the rolls, you’ve just unfairly weakened some of the classes and abilities, right?
The last thing that I discuss in the article is the issue of themes. Being able to keep to a single theme or two is a major benefit, both in making each dungeon feel unique and in making it easier to find the traps. Once again, for a better understanding of what I mean, you’ll have to see my article on Tribality.
Help the Author
I plan to put a normal article on my website next week. I have at least one more guest post that I hope to publish soon, but I’ll try to give a normal article next week and maybe link to that next. If any of my readers feel like giving me a mention online, maybe we can get to the place where I no longer need to publish guest posts and can put up articles every week. I’ve probably got a while to go before then, but every bit helps.
In a similar vein, if anybody can suggest places that might take guest posts, I’d be really grateful. I’m having a hard time finding places that accept them. Similarly, any places that collect lists of websites and might be willing to accept this one.
Terrain Features Update
I have another update to provide. I’ve been organizing my posts according to topic, and I aim to provide some new material alongside each collection. I’m still not sure what that material will be for all of the them, but I finished terrains. Click here to see a small list of special conditions to make each terrain unique, so that each terrain feels different.
I also added a short discussion of how much attention to give to the terrain, what enhances the game and what will just bug your players, and so forth. Take a look, and tell me what you think.
Until next week
Alexander Atoz
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