Traps & Hazards

Traps reward careful play and punish haste. They’re not gotchas — they’re puzzles with consequences.

The Core Principle

Player skill over character skill. When players describe how they test for or disarm a trap, adjudicate based on logic. If their method would work, it works — no roll needed. Dice are for uncertainty, not for bypassing clever thinking.

Telegraph Danger

Good traps have clues. The more dangerous the trap, the more obvious the warning signs should be:

  • Scorch marks on the walls near a fire trap
  • A skeleton slumped against a door
  • Dust patterns that show where others have stepped (or haven’t)
  • The faint smell of oil, or the glint of wire

If they’re paying attention and asking questions, give them information. If they’re rushing, let them find out the hard way.

Finding Traps

Targeted testing: If players describe a sensible precaution — prodding with a pole, tossing pebbles, checking for tripwires — and it would reveal the trap, it does. Reward the clever play.

Room search: If they search without a specific method (“I search for traps”), call for a WIS check. DC depends on how well-hidden: Easy (DC 8) for a crude pit, Hard (DC 16) for a master-crafted pressure plate. This takes 1 Turn.

Trap Expert feat: Characters with this Expert feat roll with Edge to find, disable, or set traps.

Triggering Traps

Undetected traps trigger when someone walks into them. Decide the effect based on the trap:

  • Direct damage: Arrow trap (1d6), pit trap (2d6 fall), blade (1d8)
  • Save or effect: Poison needle (CON save or poisoned), sleep gas (CON save or unconscious), net (DEX save or restrained)

Triggered traps make noise. Nearby creatures hear it; if no one’s close, roll the hazard die.

Disarming Traps

When players describe how they’re disarming — cutting the tripwire, jamming the mechanism, wedging the pressure plate — adjudicate whether it would work. Good plans succeed without a roll.

Uncertain methods: Call for a DEX check (DC 12). Failure means the trap triggers. Use common sense about who’s affected — a failed disarm of a pit trap might drop the character in; a failed disarm of a dart trap fires into the corridor.

Tools help. Thieves’ tools, spikes, wire — improvising without proper tools means Setback.

Magical traps may require Dispel Magic or special knowledge to disarm.

Environmental Hazards

Not all dangers are mechanical:

  • Collapsing floors/ceilings — DEX check to leap clear, or STR check to brace
  • Flooding / Poison gas — CON check or gain Fatigue (or worse)
  • Mold, slime, fungus — contact causes disease, poison, or ongoing harm
  • Chasms, lava, unstable bridges — no save; describe consequences, let players decide risk

Time & Pressure

Every trap interaction costs time:

  • Searching: 1 Turn
  • Disarming: 1 Turn
  • Triggering: Immediate — plus noise alerts the dungeon

The Turn spent means the hazard die rolls, torches burn, and Supply ticks down. This is the pressure that makes traps matter.