1) Give them purposes (except weakening players or wasting a spell slot) 2) Well-designed trigger ("we should've seen that coming" rather "that was unfair") 3) Uniquness / creativity (should reflect the creature that put it there) 4) Consequences (immeadiate, long-lasting and narrative)
On another note, I truly enjoy your videos. I still classify myself as a Novice DM but my players always tell me they have fun and enjoy the sessions. Your videos help get my thought processes going
If I were in a room surrounded by obsidian and someone called The Obsidian King is talking to me, I feel like the first thing I'd do is try and see if I've heard of this guy before, or at least see if I know anything about obsidian as a magic rock
Our DM made a living trap in the form of a creature called an Emorpha, it subdues players with a paralytic poison filled stinger and then morphs into their shape and copies their voice, the player of the impersonated character then has to play as the Emorpha and sabotage the party. Our DM made among us in dnd basically.
Cool video. One of the traps I heard of that i think is really cool is from an scp artical (SCP-7291) and it's a trap about what superstition you believe to be true will come true. For instance if someone sneezes and you believe the demon is trying to poses you when you do it, it will happen.
With a stealth check of 11, I will attempt to stay in the shadows as I quietly look in the main room for any signs of our sweet kitten friend. Hearing the voice of the Obsidian King, I will reply with "Forgive the intrusion, I seek a friend who may have gotten lost"
Hey, you don't have to take this advice. But personally I found the music to be really loud and distracting, maybe turn it down a little in the next video. I love the content but the background music turns me away a bit
Old parchment and lute music for a recitation of my poem? You honour me. And you had my name right on the first try: mic-NEESH Performance Check: 12 + 6 = 18 Hearing the words echo through my mind, I bow deeply towards the obelisk. "With great respect for the Obsidian King, I am a humble bard, tasked by the Master of the Fantasy Forge to find his dear displacer kitten, named Tobias. He was seen headed here, and I wish to retrieve him so that this sanctum can once again be pure."
i often use death or near death traps i don't just "weaken the players" i go for the kill if they fail the saving throw (except sometimes i use traps that inflict grevious injuries instead of kill) and majority of my traps have a dice roll so a chance of the trap being set off but failing to work as intended... and my table will always throw captured prisoners or slaves into suspected traps so they set them off so its safe for the guys to cross which i have always found funny (i've only ever been a part of evil campains, never ran or played a heroic party)
"Yeah, hey, sorry for the B&E, you don't have a doorman present. Or maybe you do, and he's just, uh... Dead. Anyway, I've been looking for a beloved displacer kitten. Have you seen him?" I conjure a small illusion of Tobias. "If you can point me in the right direction, I'll get out of your hair... or crystal, or... Well, I'll just get out at that point." For the traps, one I thought of doing is having a hallucinagen trap where the PC(s) affected can still make attack rolls like normal, but I am rolling instead, or using a sheet of pre-rolled attack and damage rolls. This way, what they *think* is happening is their roll, but what's actually happening is what I roll. I could have some real fun with this too where it seems the monster(s) is incredibly tough, but the party killed it long ago, and they've just been fighting imaginary enemies. Or perhaps the monsters have abilities that don't make any sense like a goblin suddenly growing a new head like a hydra, or a zombie starts to vocally taunt them and dodges attacks like he's in the Matrix, even going as far as to doing a few dance moves just to flex on them. Once the effects wear off, they'll have realized all this was just in their heads.
I don't think I've ever seen anyone say "I enjoyed its inclusion" about a trap and especially not a series of traps so I've been building up my campaign ideas with more "hazards" rather than simple "traps." Traps are hidden out of view and just "gotcha" a person who is 99% a player character. Whereas hazards are visible and abusable by all parties involved. Things like a wind tunnel, deep water, a ledge, slick ice. etc. I'm also thinking of a midway point where I highlight that something of interest is in a spot with a blank token and then players can once per turn do a check to uncover the trick behind that specific hazard or boon. The enemies group-rolling at the end of the round to do the same if they're intelligent enough. These being things like a sleeping predator behind some brush, a useful item on a corpse, a rope on a ship you can cut to make the other end wrap around a person's leg and yank them up on a ship, etc. I think traditional traps can even be used here since they'll no longer be exclusively a drag on the game.
My players have expressed that they enjoy my traps, but I think the biggest reason is that I use them to increase the verisimilitude more so than to hinder the party. For example, I described the large brass discs hanging from the ceiling of the temple. When they were walking through a hallway on the higher level leading to the vault and they put the lowest perception person first, they failed to see the tile trap and fell through the floor into the incredibly loud cymbals that they had seen earlier. Damage wasn’t as important as not being able to sneak up on the monster waiting for them
I reckon I'm going to roll an Arcana check on this one. Have I heard of the Obsidian King while studying the deep mysteries of the universe? I'm proficient in Arcana with a 15 for Int... But I rolled a 2. :( so a total of 6. I guess Obsidian King was that awesome band that my bard friend was really into, back when I did a semester at the College of Lore? Sounds right. Cool band name, for sure.
@@TheFantasyForge One day, when I'm trying to remember that band with that song that came out last year that was super popular... someone will remind me of Obsidian King.
Well, a lack of information is what gets you killed, so I'm definitely leaveraging my senses and knowledge skills to see if I can figure out what's happening here. Perception, History, Arcana, Mason's Tools (if I have them) for the stonework, etc. I doubt I have enough time to Investigate in detail, however, since the voice is waiting for my answer, so concurrently I'll answer truthfully and politely, but cryptically, so in an attempt to placate and interest the voice. "I seak that which has been lost, follow that which runs, desire that which belongs. And I wish to give due respect to he who I have met, to bargain for that which he holds, be that safe passage or the object of my quest. What sayth thee, oh glorious and wise king?"
After watching this video, I know the perfect trap to add into my next session. A single Hello Kitty girl Edit: better yet, a single Hello Displacer Beast girl
1) Give them purposes (except weakening players or wasting a spell slot)
2) Well-designed trigger ("we should've seen that coming" rather "that was unfair")
3) Uniquness / creativity (should reflect the creature that put it there)
4) Consequences (immeadiate, long-lasting and narrative)
you da best
On another note, I truly enjoy your videos. I still classify myself as a Novice DM but my players always tell me they have fun and enjoy the sessions. Your videos help get my thought processes going
Okay 4:05 - I was just sold dscryb rn. Yes, okay, I can see it now, it looks great!
If I were in a room surrounded by obsidian and someone called The Obsidian King is talking to me, I feel like the first thing I'd do is try and see if I've heard of this guy before, or at least see if I know anything about obsidian as a magic rock
History check ;) Or Aracana!
Our DM made a living trap in the form of a creature called an Emorpha, it subdues players with a paralytic poison filled stinger and then morphs into their shape and copies their voice, the player of the impersonated character then has to play as the Emorpha and sabotage the party. Our DM made among us in dnd basically.
Woaaah hahaha, I love that so much. Super cool
Cool video. One of the traps I heard of that i think is really cool is from an scp artical (SCP-7291) and it's a trap about what superstition you believe to be true will come true. For instance if someone sneezes and you believe the demon is trying to poses you when you do it, it will happen.
Ooo that's pretty cool, what a unique place to get inspo from too
With a stealth check of 11, I will attempt to stay in the shadows as I quietly look in the main room for any signs of our sweet kitten friend. Hearing the voice of the Obsidian King, I will reply with "Forgive the intrusion, I seek a friend who may have gotten lost"
Hey, you don't have to take this advice. But personally I found the music to be really loud and distracting, maybe turn it down a little in the next video. I love the content but the background music turns me away a bit
"Why don't you declare your purpose for locking me up or face my fist?"
I don't play DnD, I just like listening to these videos. +1 for the algorithm
aw shucks I appreciate the love
This is exactly the video I needed to get out of my writing block
Yay! Is there a specific thing I said that helped?
Old parchment and lute music for a recitation of my poem? You honour me.
And you had my name right on the first try: mic-NEESH
Performance Check: 12 + 6 = 18
Hearing the words echo through my mind, I bow deeply towards the obelisk.
"With great respect for the Obsidian King, I am a humble bard, tasked by the Master of the Fantasy Forge to find his dear displacer kitten, named Tobias. He was seen headed here, and I wish to retrieve him so that this sanctum can once again be pure."
Thank you for your advice
thank you for leaving some love!
i often use death or near death traps i don't just "weaken the players" i go for the kill if they fail the saving throw (except sometimes i use traps that inflict grevious injuries instead of kill) and majority of my traps have a dice roll so a chance of the trap being set off but failing to work as intended... and my table will always throw captured prisoners or slaves into suspected traps so they set them off so its safe for the guys to cross which i have always found funny (i've only ever been a part of evil campains, never ran or played a heroic party)
Dang! Stone cold and I love it. I like the bit about rolling for the trap to be set off too
"Yeah, hey, sorry for the B&E, you don't have a doorman present. Or maybe you do, and he's just, uh... Dead. Anyway, I've been looking for a beloved displacer kitten. Have you seen him?" I conjure a small illusion of Tobias. "If you can point me in the right direction, I'll get out of your hair... or crystal, or... Well, I'll just get out at that point."
For the traps, one I thought of doing is having a hallucinagen trap where the PC(s) affected can still make attack rolls like normal, but I am rolling instead, or using a sheet of pre-rolled attack and damage rolls. This way, what they *think* is happening is their roll, but what's actually happening is what I roll.
I could have some real fun with this too where it seems the monster(s) is incredibly tough, but the party killed it long ago, and they've just been fighting imaginary enemies. Or perhaps the monsters have abilities that don't make any sense like a goblin suddenly growing a new head like a hydra, or a zombie starts to vocally taunt them and dodges attacks like he's in the Matrix, even going as far as to doing a few dance moves just to flex on them. Once the effects wear off, they'll have realized all this was just in their heads.
LMAO "sorry for the B&E...ANYWAY" lol, too fun. I love the hallucination stuff too. Always a great time
I don't think I've ever seen anyone say "I enjoyed its inclusion" about a trap and especially not a series of traps so I've been building up my campaign ideas with more "hazards" rather than simple "traps." Traps are hidden out of view and just "gotcha" a person who is 99% a player character. Whereas hazards are visible and abusable by all parties involved. Things like a wind tunnel, deep water, a ledge, slick ice. etc.
I'm also thinking of a midway point where I highlight that something of interest is in a spot with a blank token and then players can once per turn do a check to uncover the trick behind that specific hazard or boon. The enemies group-rolling at the end of the round to do the same if they're intelligent enough. These being things like a sleeping predator behind some brush, a useful item on a corpse, a rope on a ship you can cut to make the other end wrap around a person's leg and yank them up on a ship, etc. I think traditional traps can even be used here since they'll no longer be exclusively a drag on the game.
My players have expressed that they enjoy my traps, but I think the biggest reason is that I use them to increase the verisimilitude more so than to hinder the party. For example, I described the large brass discs hanging from the ceiling of the temple. When they were walking through a hallway on the higher level leading to the vault and they put the lowest perception person first, they failed to see the tile trap and fell through the floor into the incredibly loud cymbals that they had seen earlier. Damage wasn’t as important as not being able to sneak up on the monster waiting for them
I reckon I'm going to roll an Arcana check on this one. Have I heard of the Obsidian King while studying the deep mysteries of the universe?
I'm proficient in Arcana with a 15 for Int...
But I rolled a 2. :( so a total of 6.
I guess Obsidian King was that awesome band that my bard friend was really into, back when I did a semester at the College of Lore? Sounds right. Cool band name, for sure.
Great at Arcana, just not when it comes to Fey magic apparently haha.
Awesome band that you probably know one song...maybe
@@TheFantasyForge One day, when I'm trying to remember that band with that song that came out last year that was super popular... someone will remind me of Obsidian King.
As a monk I humbly apologize for the intrusion and state I am looking for a displacer beasy by the name Tobias
Persuasion!
@@TheFantasyForge some times that all you can do and hope for the best.
Well, a lack of information is what gets you killed, so I'm definitely leaveraging my senses and knowledge skills to see if I can figure out what's happening here. Perception, History, Arcana, Mason's Tools (if I have them) for the stonework, etc. I doubt I have enough time to Investigate in detail, however, since the voice is waiting for my answer, so concurrently I'll answer truthfully and politely, but cryptically, so in an attempt to placate and interest the voice.
"I seak that which has been lost, follow that which runs, desire that which belongs. And I wish to give due respect to he who I have met, to bargain for that which he holds, be that safe passage or the object of my quest. What sayth thee, oh glorious and wise king?"
After watching this video, I know the perfect trap to add into my next session. A single Hello Kitty girl
Edit: better yet, a single Hello Displacer Beast girl
Hello Displacer Kitty 😭😂
I activate my Paladin Divine Sense and look around the room
Strong fiendish presence coming from somewhere in this castle. Almost as if everywhere
I sprinkle traps in my games to keep the party on their toes
Somehow they still never check doors and chests. Always gets em
Oh holy crap this is an infomercial. Gone!!!