Traps

Designing Devilish Traps in Dungeons and dragons 5e https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JKBVnvpI3s&list=PLQMqiULo_05OupYIohJFqY1UIKMEGWNA2&index=16

If a player ever has to say "I check for traps," the game is fundamentally flawed.

The Problem with "Checking for Traps"

It's slow and immersion breaking.

In a recent session I played in, two level 1 characters were killed by a trap. We had just finished a somewhat trivial fight and the room we entered was largely uninteresting with the exception of a stove in the corner of the room. Two party members approached that stove and the DM asked for Reflex saves -- both players failed with 19s and took 27 points of damage, killing both of them instantly. In this particular situation, both the DC and the damage of the trap were too high for the level and it was likely intended to kill the players. One player (me) literally said earlier in the session, "it's probably not worth checking for traps before every encounter" (with pace of play concerns in mind) and I was one of the two characters that died from the trap.

The problem with this is the players are now trained to "check for traps" every couple of steps. I don't want my character to die but I also know that moving 5 feet then asking to check for traps is problematic gameplay. Players shouldn't need to check for traps every time they approach a door or a chest.

So what should a Game Master do?

Encourage proactive game play instead of reactive game play. In games that I run, I typically warn players when they get close to (or move over/through) a trap that something seems off and they should roll a perception check. If the perception check succeeds, I tell stop them before they reach the trap and tell them they notice the trap -- what they do from there is up to them.

In addition to that, triggered traps should almost always have a saving throw tied to them and making those saves should reduce the damage or prevent the negative effects from it.

Every trap should have a check to completely avoid triggering it and one to reduce the effects of triggering it. Then depending on the severity of the trap, additional checks should be introduced. If a trap has a higher likelihood of a player death, the player should have more chances to avoid or mitigate it.

Traps should be intended to drain resources, not outright kill players.

Dying to traps makes players feel helpless and possibly cheated.

Traps don't need to traps.

Sometimes traps can be in plain sight or just a mundane item. For example, a player finds an unknown vial or potion and decides to drink it. Consider the consequences of this action in the same way as a trap:

• Give the player an opportunity to identify the vial
• Does it make sense something in the vial could trigger a saving throw to prevent them from taking the action (maybe shaking the vial caused it to heat up)?
• Once the vial is consumed, consider mitigating the effects with a Constitution or Fortitude saving throw.

All Rules Are Meant to be Broken

This majority of this article has explained why "checking for traps" is problematic design but there are situations where you might want to do exactly that. In these situations, it's appropriate to tell the players they are suspicious traps are in the area and they need to actively be looking for them.