Traps

[Dunkelbrink]

Preparing for the next session, where the company will enter the Millfort in search for the Staff of the Roadwarden. I'm thinking that an old Dwarven trap or two would be appropriate in protection of the staff, which is cleverly hidden in a chest in the topmost chamber of the tower.

TOR lacks particular rules for traps. Do anyone have some idea for some interesting mechanics? Of course a Search task could be used to find it and a Craft roll to disarm it, while just wandering into it could cause, say, three success dice of End loss, Armour roll against 18 to avoid being wounded (for a Dwarven spear trap hidden in a secret door).

Bu maybe someone has used traps and have some different idea on the concept?

[Glorelendil]

http://theangrygm.com/traps-suck/

The only thing I'd add to the Angry DM is the observation that in movies (and, to a lesser extent, books) it's usually a less-important character, maybe even unnamed, who gets offed by a trap. Use this. A good trap can add drama to the story without any dice rolling.

[Wagyora]

After reading the Angry GM, I would suggest traps that take effort to find or to get rid of (like a net falling from the ceiling or something heavy blocking the path). The penalty for triggering, detecting or removing it could be loss of resistance points, increased fadigue, damage to equipment (specially if the trap involves water), tests against corruption (for being stuck for a long time in the dark, or other adverse environmental conditions), or even loss of 1 point of hope to overcome it.

Another gaming possibility would be using "enemy lore" speciality to allow for players to know about typicall traps set by specific enemies (Gundabad orcs, dunlendings, spiders etc.). Those players could be automatically made aware of risks involving invading an enemy's lair, or the corresponding TN for "awareness" tests could be lower.

Some traps might get characters confused about their surroundings (darkness, smoke, sliding walls etc.), demanding orientation (Explore) tests. Others can split the group, making it more difficult to face some enemy, or forcing the trapped characters to find some way out. It can also block their path entirely, so they would need to find other way around.

[Glorelendil]

Hmmm....now I've got this rattling around in my mind. Could be a nifty area for a minor sub-system.