Tuesday Trap #6

This trap is… pretty ho-hum. Pit traps in general seem to be. They do work well in keeping your players on their guard, though. If you don't want your players complaining when a more complex trap kills, maims, grievously wounds or traps their characters, communicate to them beforehand that there are traps about by throwing a few pit traps into the environment; falling into a pit trap once or twice gets the point across much better than "alright, guys, I expect you to be careful in this dungeon." They can all be exactly the same, too… after all, even if they're not, they sure feel like they are. (You might want to vary the contents at the bottom of the pit, though.)

Also, according to my calculations, I'm now caught up on my Tuesday Traps series. These posts will be weekly from now on.

My Rolls:
1: Pit
5: Central Latch type
10: 10' Deep
14: Poisoned Spike
5: Number of Spikes that might Hit
10: THAC0 of 16 (+4 to hit)
13: 3d8 Damage per Hit
5: Number of Items in Pit
75: Broken Chair
15: Moldy Fruit
32: Small Metal Mirror
87: Humanoid Limbs
4: Offal

Trigger: Pressure
Save: Dexterity -6, AC, Poison
Reset: Manual Reset
Effects: Multiple Targets
Duration: Instant
Bypass: None

Description: This trap may be placed just about anywhere; it doesn't matter if it's in a hallway or a chamber or even outdoors. The pit is covered by two boards of equal size that meet along the center of the pit and each cover half of the pit, with their border running between 12 and 6 on a clock face. The sides of the boards that correspond with 9 and 3 rest on small indentations that are wider than the pit, keeping the boards from falling into the pit. The boards are held together by reeds laminated across the seam of the boards on the underside of the boards. The reeds and laminate are weak enough that even an unencumbered halfling would break them. Characters may save at -6 to avoid falling into the pit.

The pit is 10'/3m deep and the fall, as well as the falling boards, does 1d8 damage. The bottom of the pit is covered with poisoned spikes. Roll to attack five times at +4 to hit. Each hit is a spike, which does 1d8 damage. Each spike is poisoned; save vs. poison or suffer another 1d8 damage. Also in the pit are the entrails and arms of a recently (but not too recently) killed goblin, a smashed rocking chair, three molding apples and a small bronze hand mirror.

Detection/Disarming: Characters may detect this trap by many of the standard methods of trap detection. Examples include tapping the ground with sticks (a hollow sound will be heard), sprinkling liquid on the ground to see if it pools or drips through the floor, rolling barrels or large stones in front of the party, etc.

The trap may be disarmed by filling it with rubble or covering it with boards or some other flat, strong material.