Traps

When implemented judiciously, traps can be an excellent way to keep adventurers on their toes. Traps come in many forms, and not all traps will deal damage. Some might ensnare the heroes or alert the denizens of a dungeon to the heroes’ presence, for example.

Traps that do deal damage should typically deal about as much damage as a hero might suffer in a combat encounter. This is not a hard and fast rule, however; some very well hidden traps might be very difficult to spot, and their damage might be lethal.

Party Average Level	Perceiving DC	Overcoming DC	Single Target Damage
2	13	14	1d6
3	13	14	1d8
4	13	14	1d10
5	14	15	1d12
6	14	15	2d6
7	14	15	2d8
8	15	16	2d10
9	15	16	3d6
10	15	16	3d8
11	16	16	2d12
12	16	17	4d6
13	16	17	3d10
14	16	17	5d6
15	17	18	4d8
16	17	18	3d12
17	17	18	6d6
18	18	19	4d10
19	18	19	5d8
20	18	20	7d6
21	19	20	4d12
22	19	20	5d10
23	20	21	6d8
24	20	21	7d8
25	20	21	5d12
26	21	22	6d10
27	21	22	7d10
28	21	23	6d12
29	22	23	7d12
30	22	23	6d20

The Overcoming DC does not necessarily represent you disarming the trap. It might represent a hero jumping over a gap, discovering a secret door, finding the correct lever or keyhole, or figuring out the correct password to bypass the danger.

Traps might be triggered in many ways if the Perceiving DC is not met. Displacing a door or object might set off a trap mechanism. A pressure-sensitive floor plate might have light objects resting on it, giving the illusion of safety, but when an average adult humanoid steps on it, their weight triggers the trap. Hidden trapdoors and tripwires are common traps that are low-effort but highly effective. A false keyhole or misguiding lever might look like it will help you progress through the dungeon only to spring a trap on you instead. Your imagination is the only limit for designing how traps are concealed and how they might be overcome.

In addition to traditional traps that drop heroes into pits or hit them with blades or darts of some kind, consider more unique traps. Poisonous gas, explosions, a magical rune that teleports a hero into some kind of prison, falling rocks, and a magical monster spawning portal are all unique ideas that can make for memorable traps.

*Updated to Print 2