Greetings!

For myself, typically as a GM, I have a fondness for crazy, complex traps. However, such joy remains isolated mostly to an intellectual and GM appreciation for the crazy. On a practical level, I generally stick with pretty mundane, simple traps.

Partially, because it is less bookkeeping and less fuss.

Partly, too, that Players are likely to become very bitter if their cherished characters die by getting grabbed by a mutant, mechanical Tyrannosaurus Rex head, then squirted with oil, and set aflame, while the mechanical Tyrannosaurus Rex head chomps on them, and swiftly gulps them down into a weird, mystical "stomach" full of crushing gears and bursts of sizzling acid.

Such events may be absolutely hilarious for the GM, though I assure you, the Players will not be amused.

So, do you keep traps brutal and simple, or do you really embrace making lots of crazy, complex traps?

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

I like traps that would work and often aren't so much traps as structural features that served some other purpose.  Getting stuck in the bridge counterweight chamber for example.  The door locks behind you as a safety feature.

Quote from: David Johansen on March 20, 2024, 07:12:56 PM
I like traps that would work and often aren't so much traps as structural features that served some other purpose.  Getting stuck in the bridge counterweight chamber for example.  The door locks behind you as a safety feature.

Greetings!

Hah! That's awesome, David! I agree. Simple, multi-purpose trap/obstacles can be such fun!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

I like to telegraph traps so that when the players get caught up in them, they have no one to blame but themselves.

With simple traps, you don't need much signal.  They find one obvious pit trap with a broken lid, with spike, with a skeleton still stuck on them--that sort of hints that something similar and less obvious might be down the next corridor.

With crazy traps, it's less about surprise and more about figuring it out.  That's why there's blood on the floor, or a distant scream before entering the room, or maybe the whole setup just screams trap.  Sure, the razor sharp teeth on the Tyrannosaurus and the hinge indicates that it will pivot down and bit, but the spitting flaming oil part is less obvious.

Of course, there's the ultimate version of that--where the whole adventure is going to investigate the lair of a mad trap maker. 

I don't like puzzles, usually.  I like the thing to be solvable with common sense rather than mental gymnastics.  Very rarely, though, I'll do an indirect, one-off trap.  An example would be  a moveable maze where it isn't obvious at first that it moves or that there is a maze.  Ye old teleport traps is another variant.  Build something like that with an internal logic and a good reason for it being that way--which can be deduced from other things in the place--and in effect the whole adventure is one big trap itself.  That's great fun when you don't have any other standard traps in it, too, because it makes the players jumpy.

Then afterwards, when they figure it out, they grouse a little and tell you not to use that one again.  Don't worry; I wasn't planning on it. 

Quote from: Steven Mitchell on March 20, 2024, 10:04:57 PM
I like to telegraph traps so that when the players get caught up in them, they have no one to blame but themselves.

With simple traps, you don't need much signal.  They find one obvious pit trap with a broken lid, with spike, with a skeleton still stuck on them--that sort of hints that something similar and less obvious might be down the next corridor.

With crazy traps, it's less about surprise and more about figuring it out.  That's why there's blood on the floor, or a distant scream before entering the room, or maybe the whole setup just screams trap.  Sure, the razor sharp teeth on the Tyrannosaurus and the hinge indicates that it will pivot down and bit, but the spitting flaming oil part is less obvious.

Of course, there's the ultimate version of that--where the whole adventure is going to investigate the lair of a mad trap maker. 

I don't like puzzles, usually.  I like the thing to be solvable with common sense rather than mental gymnastics.  Very rarely, though, I'll do an indirect, one-off trap.  An example would be  a moveable maze where it isn't obvious at first that it moves or that there is a maze.  Ye old teleport traps is another variant.  Build something like that with an internal logic and a good reason for it being that way--which can be deduced from other things in the place--and in effect the whole adventure is one big trap itself.  That's great fun when you don't have any other standard traps in it, too, because it makes the players jumpy.

Then afterwards, when they figure it out, they grouse a little and tell you not to use that one again.  Don't worry; I wasn't planning on it. 

Greetings!

Yeah, Steven! A weird dungeon lair-complex of a mad trap-maker sounds pretty awesome, too! Definitely use with caution though!

I admit, honestly, presenting some generous clues out in the open, and allowing the Players to bring their own demise from dumb decision-making, or really dumb choices amongst several choices is my preference as well. I think such a style is on the right track, because from my experience, at least half the time, the players typically a few moments after sliding into the goo, or the gate drops, or whatever, you can see them already saying, "Dude! I KNEW it! I should have explored that lever more before pulling on it directly!" Or whatever. They then *see* their wrong choice, and suddenly reappraise the better choices that were also present. Those kind of traps I really love, because it isn't me jacking the players, or some crazy, complex trap--just some pretty normal poor judgment from the players, being hasty, not being thorough, that kind of thing.

The players then, of course, can see clearly that their own actions--or failure to take precautions--is what jacked them. It can be funny, too, as they laugh and squabble amongst themselves, shrieking about how Maria saw it coming, or Mark wouldn't listen, and so on.

That is when I know I have designed the best kind of traps!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

I mix it up.  Sometimes its an explosive trap or a poison tip arrow on the door or maybe a deep pit in the floor with spike.

I am trying to improve the traps I use to make the game more fun and more dangerous. 

Another simple one I'm fond of is crawl tunnels with wooden floors.  The kobolds and halflings can dash down them with ease while larger races need to crawl, and there's another passage directly under the first.  And if worst comes to worst, the floors are flammable and the ventalation is above and the air supply is below.

If you've got knights on horses, removing the planks from the middle of the bridge and provoking a charge can be fun.

Quote from: David Johansen on March 20, 2024, 07:12:56 PM
I like traps that would work and often aren't so much traps as structural features that served some other purpose.  Getting stuck in the bridge counterweight chamber for example.  The door locks behind you as a safety feature.

Yeah, me too. I like a trap that is an entire room or sequence of rooms. Sand/water filling an area with a secret way to block it or escape, pulleys and mechanisms like you might find in an abandoned mine, stuff like that. A large puzzle that you walk around in and that you may not even be aware that it's a trap at first. I always include a big trap like this in my dungeons. But like you said, it might merely be a feature that only becomes a trap when the players mess with it.

I also like small simple traps, like a bag of rocks suspended above a door. Variety is important.

I would probably say I lean towards more complicated ones.

One principal I try to make a guideline when I design challenges of any kind for my players is that where possible they should require the players to make difficult decisions. That means I will almost always avoid any trap where the operation of it is "walk forward, take damage" (common with many trapdoor or shooting traps). You mentioned player reaction and I find the reaction to that kind of thing is usually the worst of all possible ones: not excitement or frustration, but apathy. Justifiably so, I think, because the player made no informed or calculated decision. They just got hit with an arbitrary cost for playing the game.

Much better I think to present the player with a situation where they have to choose whether to interact with something which might be a trap, but might also present some kind of reward. There are simple versions of this, like the trapped treasure chest or cursed artifact, but I find this attitude tends towards more complex traps. For example, your players approach the entrance of a room and see that the walls are dotted with half-meter wide apertures. Are these shelves for storing treasure? access tunnels? flame vents? Is going forward walking into an ambush, or is it finding a shortcut? Maybe the golden skull on the altar is rigged with a pressure plate to collapse the temple. Maybe they can even see the pressure plate, but that golden skull might be the key to the mummy's treasure vault. Not great examples, I'll admit. I'm tired this morning. The point is that I'd rather present the players with a puzzle to solve or a cost-benefit analysis, rather than just roll a die and kill them.

Brutal and clever

In my heart, whose sole gaming joy is setting characters on fire, I love crazy, complex traps. Given the pace and frequency of my sessions, however, I usually stick to simple and brutal.

Anyway, my players usually create enough situations that I can twist against them, I don't always need traps to get the same effect. Goblins barricaded behind a door? Their answer is "Why not tie a mule to the door and light the door on fire, hoping to entice the mule to run with enough panic to yank the door off?" Moments like this are a gift since the players now need to contend with a flaming door, a panicked mule, and the goblins.

I prefer traps that fit the scenario.  So the players are up against the scenario and not the GM.

Let me explain.

I was running some game in FR, in some dungeon I had designed, Kobold or Goblin lair I think.  Bunch of teenagers at the table, we're all having fun.  I had this devilishly complicated trap I was just waiting for the players to happen upon, I was quite proud of it.  The group gets to the 'beginning' of the trap and over all the table talk I heard one player whisper to another player 'I know how this guy thinks, this is what we have to do....".  And it hit me.  They weren't playing in my dungeon, they were playing against me.  The trap didn't fit.

So, right then and there, I made my trap inert.  Nothing happened.  After that, I started designing the traps in my scenarios so that they fit.  Bunch of Kobolds?  Well the trap made sense for a Kobold trap.  Old drawf fortress, well then we can amp it up a whole lot.

Ag.

Simple traps are usually sprung so the players see how it works and with care can avoid others. Pit traps and such are boring.

Creative traps are riddles to be solved. Far more interesting than another combat encounter if done right. Again a body of previous victim may help (see raiders of the lost ark beginning with jump scare of trap victim).