Aten looks exactly like one of my old gamer friends.. I'm an old grognard and I still learn new stuff every day. And this young whipper snapper always manages to teach me something new. Just an awesome guy.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

You're so sweet! Thank you! Many blessings always. However, it is I who is learning from all of you. Thank you!

The party is spying into a chamber and see a huge ogre slap a goblin and says "Me hungry now you clean dungeon Flem" (Goblin who cleans vermin and resets traps). Flem roams the dungeon with a set of keys and devices to kill giant rats and reset traps. The traps have purpose and are given a care taker. I like to think about the devices Flem would carry to reset these traps then make the trap. I think backwards sometimes lol.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

I love that, it's great!

@arthurbrockway8949

4 ай бұрын

Damn I was going to suggest the same thing -a goblin NPC janitor who cleans up and repairs traps. I imagine him smoking a cigar. Of course if you catch him and interrogate him you could learn a lot about the traps in the dungeon.

Good presentation. My two rubles worth follows. First, if you aren't aware of this already, I'd like to bring to your attention a series of books done by Chaosium back in the1980s, titled "Grimtooth's Traps'. A lengthy compendium of trap ideas for all occasions, complexity from simple to full-on technomage, lethality ranging from merely embarassing to full-on TPK. Highly recommended. Second, never underestimate the importance of delayed or indirect effects, or even of straight-out bluff. For example, a triggered trap might not set off an immediate explosion, it might simply open or close a door somewhere else, or turn certain lights on or off, or whatever. Consequences as determined by the DM. Or that trap might go off, but only after the second (or third, or fourth, or fifth ....) actual trigger. Bluff? Two stories I'd like to share on this one. Story 1 - Well-armed party down in the dungeon. Someone inadvertently stepped on a pressure plate that very loudly and ominously went "CLICK!" Naturally, that Character froze. Nothing happened, so it was reasoned that Very Bad Things would happen when the Character tried to step away. The entire Party was basically stuck there for ages as they tried to brainstorm a way out - proposed solutions up to and including amputation of that Character's leg. In the end? All that pressure plate did was go CLICK when stepped on. That was it. But it was still an effective delay. Story 2 - Party down in the dungeon. They trigger a trap, that douses the entire Party in a glowing powder. Party immediately concludes that it must be radioactive, and go into full paranoia mode. It basically went like this: "Is there any radiation?" "Um. How would you guys KNOW what radiation is?" "OK. I cast 'Detect Poison'. Is it poisonous?" "Ummmmmmm ....... Yeah, your spell says it's SORT OF poisonous. Just a little bit, though. Nothing to worry about." "AH-HAAAAAAAA!!!!!!" The Party then set about doing a full "decontamination" on themselves. All clothing, armor and gear removed and carefully cleaned. All hair shaved off (including dwarf beards). Multiple curative spells cast. Anything that could not be adequately cleaned was destroyed on the spot or carefully buried. "Radiation? Okay, sure, our Characters don't know what that is, but we're just being careful." The truth? The powder was not radioactive, simply luminous. The idea being that it would make the Party more obvious in ambush / stealth situations if not dealt with. The poisonous effect came in only because the DM figured that anyone actually eating the stuff would likely get sick. Only the Party got this one idea in their heads (which, admittedly, the DM allowed), and they just went completely overboard with it. Classic. Keep up the good work;)

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Yes, I have the Grimtooths and many others. I love them and I'll cover them in part two of my discussion on traps. I used to spend hours pouring over the first grimtooth's book in the 80s. But I had to cut 30 minutes out of this video. As far as I could tell it wasn't until 2E AD&D's Dungeon Builders Guidebook from 1998 that I found any real official trap guidance. Then in 3E there was some official materials. Thanks!

One of the best things about being a DM is allowing the players to come up with solutions you didn’t think if, and doing things in a manner you didn’t expect. Going with the flow is an important aspect of actually having fun. Also brilliant idea for treating traps as monsters. It’s the reverse of what’s happened to Green Slime and Yellow mold, which are treated as hazards or traps.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

thanks!

That Trap disarm houserule is literally how critical failures work in Pathfinder 2e. Traps having an AC and Hitpoints (And a hardness value for that matter) as well as simply being treated as participants in an encounter is btw also how PF2e handles traps. They have rudimentary actios and reactions depending on wether the traps is simple or complex. It always makes me chuckle how easily 5e is fixed by simply turning it into pathfinder lol.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

haha thanks! Great Minds I guess! :)

Also...coolest trap EVER, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Descending ceiling with spikes! Classic!

Greetings from the future! Personally, I prefer tricks over traps so the players can just figure it out. Like clay golems painted in iron paint. That way the players can all take a part and the rogue can still disable devices on some tricks. "As the iron golem comes towards you you can feel the thud of each step rumbling your spine." "Wait, thud? Shouldn't it be a scrape or clang?" "I know what I said."

I love the visual and audio style of your videos. You do a great job of presenting your ideas in a fun and easily understandable way.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Thank You very much!! I much appreciate hearing this!

Here is a little bit extra that this video inspired. How the trap detects the party and is thus triggered. Maybe under senses: any creature that interacts with the pressure plate. Otherwise blind to everything beyond that. Previously, my best advice i had ever been given was the landmine *click* rule. Where the trap has only been partially activated, thus giving the party the opportunity for counterplay. This has also reaply worked wonders for me since i used traps sparingly. Im definetly gonna give yours a shot though cause it is so elegant a solution.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Thanks!

"It's role playing, not roll playing" Exactly! Going straight in my RPG quotes repertoire.

@welovettrpgs

Ай бұрын

Thanks!

You hands down have the best DM advice on KZread and your channel is criminally underrated. Keep up the good work! Another tip I got and use is to just tell the player they see some element of a trap. It gets rid of the pesky “do I see a trap?” Question and roll that happens in every dungeon room.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Thank you very much! And I agree about detecting traps. In part two ill discuss that more plus show some examples. I appreciate your support!

@greatjamama

4 ай бұрын

@@welovettrpgs can’t wait!

Wow, that is really interesting an insightful. It gives me thoughts of a trap golem coming to life after it's initial trigger and chasing the player around. Like it might have a humongous axe it has to ready to swing and it is perched to just drop it as the players walk by. Then like a light switch the arm coming down activates the golem, waking it up and putting it on the offensive.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

I love that! You definitely need to make a stat blck for that!

I definitely enjoy well placed or designed traps, but I'm not good at making those, so I only end up using them when they're in a premade adventure. I like this advice.

@welovettrpgs

2 ай бұрын

thanks!

18:01 I agree. No traps just for the sake of having a trap. The mechanical and magical traps were created for a specific reason. I am now pondering how to use purposefulness for natural and biological traps.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

I find natural and biological the easiest to legitimize - maybe it's just me. Tomorrow's game for example my PCs will be walking into a huge "natural" trap that was the result of a big magic disaster. The reason this isn't considered a magical trap is because all of the magical properties that created it are now long since gone. To say "natural" might be misleading since it could never appear naturally without the magic that created it but it is best defined now as natural (a huge cloud of poisonous green mist that covers a swamp.) Thanks!

DM: "You've identified a pit trap before you in the hallway". Fighter: "I attack it!" Paladin: "I smite it!" Wizard: "I cast Fireball on it". DM: "Wait, what?"

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

haha yes well ... lol

An interesting approach to disarming the trap problem! Also you forgot to mention the type of trap with the purpose to alarm the inhabitants of intruders.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

That's in there. I say, "These types of traps might also be combined with alarms or warnings that alert inhabitants of an intrusion. These traps might not cause direct harm but instead trigger a response from defenders or activate other security measures."

Really excited to try this out! Also, love the way you set this up. Really helped me follow the logic and the 'why' of this new method. I feels that's really critical for better implementing something new at the table. Also Also, if I've not mentioned before, you are absolutely impeccably dressed and I love the style =)

@welovettrpgs

2 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful! Thank you!

Fantastic solution! Thank you, good sir... Your wisdom and insight are always appreciated. Cheers!

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Thank you very much!

Well an idea I had for a simple trap, basically it's called the monkey-bar elevator.... (When the player is hanging off from the triggering monkey-bar while trying to cross some ceiling mounted monkey-bars over some obvious hazard such as a deep pit, well it triggers an elevator that raises the player up into a shaft in the ceiling with no easy way to climb down.) A complex version of this would include some arrow slits at the top of the shaft that would allow waiting monsters to shoot at the player once the elevator the players are hanging from is at the top of the shaft.... or perhaps something that ignites a fire below the PC filling the shaft with suffocating/poisonous smoke.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

great!

Another awesome video! Love your aesthetic and appreciate the sound advice- I've never considered just giving the traps stat blocks and using various construct-type features to easily tailor them

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Thank you very much!

I'm looking forward to your next traps video

@welovettrpgs

Ай бұрын

Thanks! It's on my list!

That has been very inspiring. I am starting a new campaign right now and will definitely make traps have a common ser of stats. I think this should bé combined with the crafting abilities. Making the traps stats depend on the roll of the crafter. Artificers and similar characters could have a blast making traps

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

thanks

I suggest you to check the hazards mechanic in Pathinder 2e (traps are a type of hazard in that game). As you said they're treated almost as monsters, with even a CR (there is just called level, but pot*e*to potato), sometimes AC etc... etc...

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Thanks, that sounds great! D&D (and other TTRPGs) should have been doing that since day one. I think Gary made the same weird assumption with traps as he did with selling published adventures (that others would rather do it than buy premade products.)

Great advice! Yeah, traps have always been one of the weaker things in the game in making everyone have fun. Always happy to hear some new ideas. :-)

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Thanks!

Can't wait for part 2❤

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

thanks!

One trap idea i had were traps that could be passed by abnormal checks like a history check puzzle or a performance check were you have to copy a dance to pass through a room

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

those are great creative ideas! 100%

Traps with monster stats and now I want a trap for a sidekick. Hah. I dig this channel.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Thanks! (One of my PCs has had a shape shifting construct sidekick)

Here's how to use the old "Save or Die" mechanic with traps. For chests and doors each of which are optional. meaning the player should have the option to leave it alone and continuous the adventure. The player gets a lucky roll roll and detects the trap. they can also tell that the trap is deadly. make it clear that a wrong move means death. now they have to decide if they want to gamble their life for the treasure or whatever or to leave it be. If they go for it, people may stand up to see the dice as it rolls. build suspense when you can.

@welovettrpgs

3 ай бұрын

Agreed!

Good job Aten!

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Thank You!

Overachiever homework: create stat blocs for every trap in Grimtooth's.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

I love Grimtooths. They recently had a 5E book kickstarter. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product!

Excellent video sir!

@welovettrpgs

Ай бұрын

Thanks!

I may seem like a pedantic, over-detailed-in-my-thinking kinda DM. But... my philosophy has always been to have traps make sense, have valid reasons for being there and dont always need to be deadly. They just need to be tough enuff to challenge players and make them say, "Yeah, I get why that trap is there!" (While they use resources that the trap took from them.) 😅😉

@welovettrpgs

Ай бұрын

I do the same.

One great peice of advice I got about being a DM is it's your job to come up with the obsticals not the solutions.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

absolutely 100%! When I realized that it made everything so much more fun for me personally. I just create problems, obstacles and I love seeing the Party teach me all the fun and creative ways to overcome it!

*chuckles in Pathfinder 2e's Hazard statblocks*

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

niice

"If the players described actions are sufficient, then no dice role is required!" I have heard that countless times, I have seen it handled that way even more often BUT some players and especially modern D&D players seem to have not only forgotten that but actively resist that. Possibly a consequence of those younger people having grown up with video games, that claim to be RPGs...

@welovettrpgs

28 күн бұрын

We must resist the dumbing down! Bring back imagination into our hobby!

👍🗡🗡🗡 Vibrant energy in this video, looks good.

29:13 And so on: Primal spidy sense, divine foreknowledge, and arcana

The advice of "describe your actions, explain your intentions," can be applied to soooooo many situations beyond trap detection. Tell me what you want to do, tell me how you intend to do it -a die roll may not be required.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Exactly! The dice are only there is success is in question or to help determine the degree of success if applicable.

@Mr_GoR_

4 ай бұрын

@@welovettrpgs even if I still feel like a die roll might be necessary, your actions could influence the DC, or maybe grant advantage.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

@@Mr_GoR_ Agreed. Also, I was hesistant about even mentioning the tripwire iniative thing because it could be easily misunderstood. The reaon I might do that is to see if a PC noticed it right before they ran into it.

@Mr_GoR_

4 ай бұрын

@welovettrpgs similarly, I've heard the advice from other DMs to tip off the players that a trap has been triggered and allow them to react before the trap does its thing. Something to the effect of "you hear a *click*" or "the tile underfoot begins to sink" etc.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

@@Mr_GoR_ Ive done something like that. Had a trap go off but each player had to write their response on paper that i read so their actions were not influenced by one another. It resulted in one character being seperated from the others behind a falling portcullis.

had a party trigger a ceiling fall trap -- quick witted player - playing a mage cast feather fall on it ... -- pure creativity -- beat the initiative and voila -- slow falling (still heavy) but passable before it crushed everyone.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Love it!

@fred_derf

4 ай бұрын

Feather fall: 5e: Choose up to five falling _creatures_ within range.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

@@fred_derf I loved the brutality of traps in 1E. Reminds me of the magnetic trap on the celing in Slavers. "I'm sorry, you lose all of yor metal gear."

@fred_derf

4 ай бұрын

@@welovettrpgs AD&D could be just brutal, look at the popular modules of the time and they are meat grinders. "Save or Die" was standard in AD&D days and is seen as "unfair" now-a-days.

@TheSoling27

3 ай бұрын

@@fred_derf playing AD&D ( never left after 40+yrs of DM'ing) --"When this spell is cast, the creature(s) or object(s) affected immediately assumes the mass of a piece of down." from the first edition.. honestly as a reward for creativity I'd still allow it ...

Contracting walls...R-2, shut down ALL the trash compactors!!!! 🤣🤣. Idea for a type of hindering trap: Poison on the door handles and your P.C.s AREN'T wearing their gloves! 👍😉. 🤘😎🖖🇨🇦

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

And didnt one of them initially try to shoot their way out but the blaster bolt deflected off the walls?

Hmm, ICRPG has a similar thought for traps having hit points. Nice 👍

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Thanks!

I dig it , 4e traps were sort off close to this idea .

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

cool! (I'll have to check that out)

I am intrigued, but so far I have not idea why giving them a stat block makes any difference other than allowing players to smash them? Looking forward to some examples.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Hi. I feel I explained that. There needs to be uniformity. And I offered two example stat blocks. Also, I recited the 5E DMG word for word but merely finished what they started. And as I've learned from other comments, it sounds like Pathfinder already does something very close to this. By creating stat blocks we simply make them part of the existing game mechanics which helps us translate them into our game. I hope that helps. Thanks!

OMG, not even 2 minutes in and I'm having flashbacks to Tomb of Annihilation! I was the rogue for that, and we spent the first half of the Tomb walking on eggshells and searching everything for traps ~ which meant ME doing a lot of stuff while everyone else sat around waiting for the results. We got so sick of traps that eventually we just stopped looking for them and bashed our way through the rest of the tomb tripping everything as fast as we could just so we could get to the end and make the pain stop. We were all just sick of playing "trap game" and wanted out. Not ideal. RE: Find Traps ~ that seems pretty weak for a 2L spell! Instantaneous duration, so it's basically a one-shot spell. If there's no traps within line of sight your slot was just wasted. IMO, that's a 1st level spell, at the most. A 2L version should at least have a duration of "concentration, up to 1 hour", or certainly something more than "instantaneous". No wonder no one takes that spell! ...heck, I'd even consider making it a 1st level spell for Arcane Tricksters.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Mike I agree on both points. Also, you made me think about the duration of Find Traps and I compleytely agree that should be changed. Lastly, when DMing Tomb of Annihilation it is the DMs responsibility to not let that happen. It's one of the few good WorC published adventures and it's a shame you didn't enjoy it.

I'm putting this in Khor Aten. *Wink* For my living and unliving(undead) traps.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Love it!

@helixxharpell

Ай бұрын

​@@welovettrpgsI admit it.. I'm a junkie for these videos & I keep finding myself coming back time & again just to keep my mindset. Thanks brother!

What benchmarks do you use for traps for their statblocks? Why would a tripwire have a Dex score? I need some more help with this

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

I gave things like a tripwire most scores of a zero except for Strength. You could also give it a high CON to emulate toughness. However, the best benchmarks are to look at existing golem stats and though I just invent the numbers I need you could still use the trap suggstions in the DMG and Tashas to help. And some traps (like an open pit) wouldnt have any scores or ratings in some areas. Though a trap door over a pit could have a Strength and Dex.

have you been reading my notes? lol. Traps as monsters, my categories of trap types in my random trap generator. somebody's been scrying reacently.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Which reminds me, have you seen my Homunculus? He hasnt come home. :)

@thactotum

4 ай бұрын

@@welovettrpgs was it a Paracelsian homonculus? or more Shelley style modern promethian? If the former I might have granted it it's own Domain of dread. I think the latter one might be my landlord.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

@@thactotum well sadly, my players realized it had been spying on them and reporting their location so they murdered it! :(

And a old favorite do nothing "breath of G" idiana jones raiders of the lost arc for reference

Grimmtooth's traps...... Grain silo explosions........ I have never had a more perspective changing explanation than that.... In Star Wars d20 I created a droid similar to the R2 droid, the C4 droids were loaded with thermite charges. The party discovered a durasteel tunnel full of them, with some teamwork the party managed to avoid the worst scenario. This enabled them to take out the HK droid at the end of the tunnel with little difficulty, however the gungan pilot was nearly killed by being skinned alive. Of course I wish that my nefariousness could have been more effective, but that is neither here nor there. The alignment system does hold some interesting possibilities if you use it properly, but in my opinion traps are traps. While a few might have alignment based options, most are simply just dependent upon what could trigger them. Perhaps I've went too far into it, not sure as I'm drunk but either way I wish you well. Have fun Aten and may your players as well. =^_^=

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Thanks Wolf! Be kind to yourtself!

@wolfleclair1399

4 ай бұрын

@@welovettrpgs I shall try, but no promises. Master Yoda doesn't like it when I break tthose. =^_^=

Are liches handy or do you think they use contractors?

@welovettrpgs

2 ай бұрын

100% contracted. I think that may even be discussed in "Return to the Tomb of Horrors."

@johnmagowan6393

2 ай бұрын

@@welovettrpgs I have to go look. I had a running gag in my WoW group that the most powerful being was whoever it was that put up the road sign at every intersection no matter how deadly the zone.

Drinking game: Take a drink every time he says "trap". Take two every time he says "traps". *Do not drive for 24 hours.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

haha

More aspects of gameplay need to be handled using a regular procedure instead of different minigames. Meaningful choices instead of mastery of minigames.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Agreed! I believe TTRPGs are about creative opportunities rather than imposing arbitrary limitations.

The "living spells" in the eberron book r good examples living cloud kill yuck

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

yes theyre rough. met them playing DDO.

SO --- ???? When is your book coming out? LOL --

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

lolz. Thanks! (BTW I am authoring 3 books atm but they aren't gaming books. One is a children's book about not allowing fear to control us. Another is a book about my career as a paranormal debunker and the third is about Relational Agression and toxic relationships. Some day Id like to publish a book about my homebrew game world but that's not on my schedule at this time.)

Why are you this handsome

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

ahh thank you!

Muahahaha!!! Fastclicked this one.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Thanks Ash!

What you've done here is point out one of my main problems with D&D 5e, and then made it worse. What's the point of playing a Rogue (or any other class) if they have no unique abilities?

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

I addressed your issue in the video. It's a non issue. 5E already took that away from being exclusive to rogues. What I have done, and it works - is to stop people from falling asleep at the table.

@fred_derf

4 ай бұрын

@@welovettrpgs, writes _"5E already took that away from being exclusive to rogues."_ Yes, that was the basis of the point I was making. With your system I don't have to worry about traps, I just have to hit them.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

@@fred_derf Again, not my point and I literally repeated multiple times in my video that wasn't the answer. As I stated at least twice: "Using this method does not need to turn every trap encounter into a combat encounter." And TTRPGs are about providing more flexibility and creative options - not limiting them. Already within the game objects have hit points and ACs. Already within the game your players can attack and damage traps but there's no guidelines for that. I find objects in 5E far too durable as compared to earlier editions but that's a topic for a different video. All my method does is remove the inconsistencies and allow for motre creative solutions. So if you want to say, "NO!! THE ONLY WAY TO DEAL WITH TRAPS IS TO HAVE A ROGUE!!!" Then that's your choice. But we've tried it that way for 50 years. It hasnt been enjoyable.

30 min of trap talk…and it’s only part 1.

@welovettrpgs

4 ай бұрын

Part one of a 13 part series! :p

we need to promote this channel -- more subs -- like, sub and get notifications ..

@welovettrpgs

3 ай бұрын

That is great to hear! Thank you. I am so grateful for everyone that is here and it is your support that keeps me going.