Dungeon Design Tips: Combine Combat With Traps

A while back I put together an article titled Consider Removing Doors From Your Dungeons, and it was popular enough that I thought I'd come back to the topic of dungeon design this week. And before I get into this next topic, I wanted to ask my readers out there... is this something you'd like to see me turn into an ongoing series? And if so, would you like to see it remain part of my Crunch updates, or would you like to see it become its very own section? And, for that matter, do you want it to remain hosted on this blog, or should I put it over in My Vocal Archive?

All input is welcome, as it's the voices of my audience I use to try to guide my decisions going forward. With that said, onto this week's topic!

After all, not all traps are this obvious!

As always, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Combat And Traps: A Match Made In Hell

As I mentioned in the previous installment, a lot of us tend to think of our dungeons in segmented parts and pieces, which we don't allow to interact with one another. If there's a room with an encounter in it, then no matter how long or loud the combat gets, other denizens of the dungeon won't come to see what's happening, even though that's the logical thing to do... it's as if the doors are all soundproof, and none of the other monsters want to overstep the limits of the arena they're placed in. To help break us out of that mindset, my suggestion was to eliminate doors, or to at least leave them open so it's clear they aren't a barrier between what happens in this part of the map, and what happens further away.

However, just as we often section off our rooms and arenas, keeping them separate and apart from one another, we often refuse to let two other parts of our dinner touch; namely traps and combat encounters.

Guys, got a monster! Stop checking for traps and help me!

Consider this. A majority of the time we put traps in long hallways, cramped corridors, and otherwise empty rooms because (whether we're thinking about it or not) we consider the trap to be the encounter in that area. While some doors might have traps on them (thus allowing the trap to act as the opening salvo of an encounter), that is a one-two punch rather than a genuine combination of a trap and encounter. Like having a burger and fries in the same take out container, but they're still not touching each other.

No, this week's advice is to purposefully and deliberately combine traps with combat encounters as a way to create a more dynamic arena, and to increase the difficulty/challenge rating for your players.

There are a few different ways I would suggest thinking about this. Some of those methods, with examples, include:

- Added Threat: Consider a room with hidden crossbows or arrow traps, but which all fire at a height that will hit a Medium creature and not a Small one, and which go off when triggered by a higher weight than a Small creature possesses. This ensures the goblins in the room can run amok, goading the party to close the distance via certain routes, thus setting off additional, hidden attacks. Bonus points if the bolts/arrows are drugged or poisoned, thus creating an additional danger.

- Ticking Clock: We've all been in a room with a flooding trap before, putting a ticking clock on how long players have before they're drowned... but what if there are hungry crocodiles released into the rising waters? Or skeletal warriors who aren't bothered by things like a need to breathe? The water doesn't hurt the characters in and of itself, but it does add one hell of a challenge.

- Battlefield Control: The party steps into a room with a handful of orc archers firing their longbows. Clearly the solution is for the barbarian to charge them so they can no longer take pot shots at the party. But that's when the roaring brute finds, to their chagrin, that parts of the floor are loose, leading to drops into spiked pits. The enemy knows where the camouflaged pits are, and while the party now has to move carefully, the enemy can fire at will, or engage however they wish to.

These are just a few ways that traps can add additional threats to a situation, and create an additional threat for your party to deal with!

With that said, consider some of the following caveats...

Before going ham and adding traps to every encounter, take a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Because when choosing the proper traps to mix into your combat, it's important to consider the following questions:

- Is This An Equal Opportunity Trap? Most traps will likely be avoided by the monsters in the room, but there are some traps which will only be an issue for the party, even if they go off. A poison gas trap, for example, won't affect the zombies in a room, even if it creates a deadly poison cloud that can be a serious danger for the party.

- Is This A Crippling Trap? Most traps are dangerous in-the-moment, but if someone survives the trap, will it create a condition that character now has to deal with for the rest of the dungeon? Something that deals hit points, or which creates a short-term negative is very different than something that gives the victim a permanent negative, or which takes away one of their options to participate in the game going forward. Just like how a monster sundering a fighter's sword is a serious issue that shouldn't be considered lightly, so too is a trap that leaves an effect on a character after the room it's encountered in (other than hit point loss, as that's often reparable).

- Does This Trap Make Sense In This Location? If the party is invading the secret underground lair of a mad alchemist, then it makes total sense for rooms to be rigged with poison gas, explosive traps, and other challenges... but would those same devices be found in the lair of a dragon? Or a defunct crypt that no living person has entered in a century? Just because a trap might make good tactical sense, that doesn't mean it makes sense with the world's internal consistency.

- Is This Avoidable? There shouldn't be a guarantee that a trap goes off. There should be a chance that players avoid it, whether it's moving in a certain way to avoid triggering it, making a Perception check to notice the trap, or having some ability to negate or stop it from going off. Traps that you basically have to set off, or disable while you're under attack, can quickly suck the fun out of an encounter, and they're something you should avoid doing often (or at all, depending on the opinion of your table).

One last thing I would add as a piece of advice here is to choose your traps carefully. Just like how players will get tired of fighting the exact same monster over and over again, or how they'll come up with strategies to deal with specific tactics, a particular trap layout is only going to work so many times before it goes from a new and dangerous threat to an annoyance or frustration.

More importantly, though, is that the real advantage of traps is the uncertainty they create. For example, if your party snuck into a forbidden crypt, and they had to do battle with undead squires to enter the tomb proper, then the lack of a trap might make them confident. But then they have to cross a bridge that is trapped while undead archers fire arrows at them, that might leave their confidence shaken. When they enter the depths of the tomb, and find a skeletal champion and its retainers waiting for them, is the party going to assume this is another straight-up fight? Or will they be moving with caution, wondering where the booby traps are?

A trap only has to happen every now and again for the party to become wary of them. However, traps can grant a serious home field advantage, often allowing a small number of adversaries (or even just one) to take on an entire party of well-armed, well-prepared player characters!

Speaking of Traps...

Part of the reason I was thinking on this topic was that I've been re-reading my recent supplement Ungentlemanly Warfare: A Baker's Dozen of Booby Traps that I put out a little while back for my RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic. I'm slowly gearing up to write a few more missions set in this world to follow up the first release A Night At Breckon's Beacon, and at least one of these missions is going to have a lot of traps as part of the challenge a squad is going to have to face.

Seriously, grab a copy if you haven't yet!

If you're looking for a game that definitely encourages the use of traps as part of the challenge (for both allies and enemies), then grab yourself a copy of Army Men for the holidays! And if you just want some improvised mayhem in your game, well, Army Men is based off of a 5E engine, so if your game also runs on something 5th Edition, or a 5th Edition port, these booby traps should be equally useful for you as well! And while some are meant for dealing with infantry, there are several that are meant for taking out vehicles, as well as their entire crew... so tread carefully!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Crunch post! To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

GMs, Keep Your Threats De-Centralized To Maintain Long-Term Plot

There is a question I see time and time again from game masters and storytellers in RPG groups, and it applies across games and editions. While it comes in several different forms, the underlying query is always the same.

"My players went after the big bad, and killed him way sooner than I expected. What am I supposed to do now?"

What indeed. But Specter has many heads, why don't your villains?

What I would suggest is that you take a deep breath, let it out, and consider the idea of a de-centralized threat. Because you want your players to still have their victories, but if you want to keep the game going no matter which particular bad guy they pop in the eye, your villainous threat needs to be able to absorb the loss without crumpling beneath its own weight.

Also, if you haven't done so yet sign up for my newsletter to get all my fresh content delivered straight to your inbox!

Call of Cthulhu, World of Darkness, and More!

A lot of game masters and storytellers can get overly focused on a single bad guy. Whether it's the one evil wizard, the singular wicked queen, or the head corrupt priest, there is a particular villain who is going to be the end game threat. The story, in a lot of ways, is leading in a roundabout route to the PCs eventually having a showdown with that Big Bad Evil Guy (trademark), and then once that is accomplished the campaign story is complete!

As was just alluded to, though, the worst thing that can happen is if the PCs jump the gun with regards to the one bad guy. Maybe they unmask the shadowy traitor at court five levels too early, calling out the duke in front of everyone. Perhaps you wanted the big bad to cross swords with the party once or twice before the final bout, and they got absolutely wrecked by lucky criticals from the barbarian. Your party might have concocted a brilliant strategy that let them teleport into the villain's lair for a decapitating strike, skipping right over a dozen fights and two dozen traps to spike the big bad in the head before they could retreat out the trapdoor.

The solution, in this case, is not to hang the plot off of one NPC's shoulders.

To solve that issue, spread out the villains!

For examples you need look no further than games like Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Call of Cthulhu, or Changeling: The Lost. In these games players are a part of bigger, ongoing events that often affect them personally, but which you can't just barrel into and solve with the swing of a blade, or the pull of a trigger. While individual victories can be won (and should be won, in order to keep players interested), that one victory will not end the threat entirely, thus allowing you to keep the game going, moving onto a different plot point.

In Werewolf, players take on the role of shapechanging warriors who fight a secret, ongoing battle against the corrupting forces of the Wyrm; a creature that would cast the world down in darkness, and end life as we know it. Players will find themselves facing evil werewolves who've gone over to the enemy, corrupted spirits, mutant humans and animals known as fomori, as well as mortal threats like corporations that want to reap the planet for profit no matter what sort of harm it will cause. While bullets, blades, claws, and teeth can fight many of these threats, there is no one evil spirit, no singular monster, and no individual oil tycoon who is orchestrating everything; they're all a part of the same web of threats you have to deal with.

The same de-centralized threats are key to Call of Cthulhu and Changeling as well. In Call of Cthulhu, you cannot kill the old ones any more than a flea could murder a grizzly bear. You can disrupt rituals, kill or break up cults, and destroy items of power (sometimes), but these victories do not render the overall threat gone. In much the same way, Changeling has the forces of the True Fae arrayed against you and your compatriots. And though you may thwart the agents of a particular True Fae, outsmart a Huntsman, or reach an understanding with an antagonistic fetch, none of these things by themselves are going to undo the threats against the PCs, and their world.

Because these threats are so vast, so wide, and so varied, there's always going to be another head of the hydra to rear up when they manage to burn one off.

How Do You Apply That To Traditional Fantasy Games?

All three of the examples above are very different from your traditional, level-based games. However, that doesn't mean you can't take the lessons from those games and apply them to what you're trying to run.

The only thing you need is a little creativity.

And notes... copious notes.

As an example, let's take the traitorous duke. In a game of cat-and-mouse, the party is going to have to work their way up until they eventually discover his identity, leading to a final confrontation. You know how you stop early discovery from being an issue, though? You make it an entire cabal of traitors, not just one. So that way even if the PCs manage to uncover one, and kill him, that doesn't end the threat. There are still others in the court, each moving on their own machinations. Who they discover first, and what steps they take, will affect the actions the cabal takes as a whole, but one early discovery won't wrap up the entire plot.

The same thing can happen with the other scenarios. The villainous swordsman who thought he could take on the whole party at once? Well, what if he's just one black knight among a dozen, each with their own specialties, powers, and role to play? Even if the PCs manage to kill the one, that doesn't stop the others from enacting their overall plans... and it might make them particularly vengeful because the party killed one of their own. That wizard who got taken out by a lucky strike, or because the PCs evaded their traps and minions? That ceases to be an issue if there's a coven of eight wizards, and if the death of one triggers a warning to the others that something is amiss.

In the end, having one big villain behind everything is the same as expecting one big monster to go toe-to-toe with the party. A lot of the time it works just fine... but when it doesn't, it can lead to a seriously premature end to the fight, or to the entire campaign. If you want to draw things out, put more threats in the air so that even if the PCs unexpectedly manage to solve one, there are still others hovering that need to be taken care of before the credits can officially roll on this adventure.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!