Trapsmith: Rocks Fall!

Trapsmith: Rocks Fall!

boulder

(Illustration by Marc Radle)

Bone-crushing boulders chasing frightened adventurers: a classic scene, usable in any campaign. The rolling rock trap is designed to enable that classic scene.

Rolling Rock Trap (CR 1)

Type mechanical; Search DC 20; Disable Device DC 22
Trigger location; Reset manual
Effect Atk +10 melee (2d6)
Market Price 1,400 gp

The rolling rock trap fails to live up to its potential. It has only one attack and then it stops? Manual reset: someone is going to push the rock back into its starting position? A high Disable Device check? What if…

Thunderous Rolling Rock Trap (CR 1)

Type mechanical; Search DC 20; Disable Device DC 15
Trigger location; Reset none
Effect Atk +5 melee (6d6)
Market Price 100 gp

This well-hidden trap releases a rolling rock of epic proportions; the continuous rumble of the rock’s progress is almost thunderstorm like. It imposes a -2 penalty on Listen checks.

Bone-Crushing Boulder Trap (CR 2)

Type mechanical; Search DC 20; Disable Device DC 15
Trigger location; Reset none
Effect Atk +11 melee (4d6); multiple targets (1 attack on each target in the path of the boulder; boulder follows corridor or a straight line for 200 ft.)
Market Price 400 gp

Using a larger, more rounded rock, increases the range of this trap and offers more chances to crush hapless adventurers, but we sacrifice some damage to make this happen. After it ceases to roll, the boulder becomes a solid obstacle for future adventurers and possible sealing in those that set the trap off. A clever dungeon design would take this into account.

Boulders as NPCs

Sometimes, a chase scene is more exciting than just rolling to hit. Consider giving the bone-crushing boulder a speed of 30 ft. as it chases the PCs. The boulder double-moves every round, and as soon as it connects with a PC, it makes an attack roll. Hit or miss, decrease its speed by 5 ft. to reflect the lost energy. If confronted by a T intersection, the boulder can turn either way, without losing speed. Some boulders go faster than others and have a higher initiative.

(This post is Product Identity.)

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This Halloween, rocks fall, and you get to dress up as roadkill! What traps have you got?

11 thoughts on “Trapsmith: Rocks Fall!”

  1. I love this trap. Variants for CR 5 or 7 could be fun as well.

    After all, kinetic energy increases as the square or cube of the mass, right? Smush the slow-running small folk! Behold the barbarian running with a halfling tucked under each arm!

  2. Thank you all, but don’t forget that Wolfgang makes this look good.

    For a CR 5 trap I would take the ‘Bonecrusher’ and add another 6d6 damage for a total of 10d6. This is OGL CR 5, not PRPG CR 5.

  3. Hey Darkjoy, take the credit; you dreamed it up!

    And since you mention it: are you going to do any PF RPG traps?

    I haven’t gone to look at the differences, but it might be fun to investigate what’s new there.

  4. OK, I’ll take the credit ;>

    An OGL-PF RPG comparision might be fun to do, I’ve got some ideas, I’ll send it in when it is done.

  5. Take the credit Darkjoy, your traps are very clever and interesting – I already have a few earmarked for future games!

    (The illustration ain’t exactly chopped liver either :)

  6. Thanks :)

    Yup, those were both mine. I did two more of your traps as well … they’ll probably show up sooner or later as well.

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