DEFEATING COMPLEX TRAPS
A complex trap is never defeated with a single check. In-
s tead, each successful c heck foils some part of it or de-
grades its performance. Each e lement of the trap must
be overcome individually to defeat the trap as a whole.
As part of determining how your trap can be over-
come , look at your map and con s ider wher e the c ha rac-
ters must be located to attempt an action t hat can foil
part of the trap. As a rule, the ch a racters should need to
be near or adjacent to an e le ment to have a ch a nce o f af-
fecting it. An e lement can be designe d so that it protects
itself. A fighter might be able to break a whirling bla de,
but movin g close enoug h to attack it requires giving the
blade a chance to strike.
What method s are effective against your trap? Obvi-
o us candidates a re activities cover e d by the same sorts
of checks used to defeat s imple traps, but use your
knowledge of the trap's design to identify other options.
A valve that leaks poison gas into a room can be stopped
up. A statue that emits a deadly aura can be pushed over
and smashed. Attacks, spells , and special abili ties can
all play a role in undermining a trap.
Leave room for improvisation by the characters. Don't
create a few predetermined solut ions and wait for the
players to figure out the right approach. If you under-
stand the mechanism b ehind how a trap works, that
makes it much easier for you to respond to t he players'
ideas. If a character wants to try something you haven 't
allowed for, pick an ability, assess the cha nce of s uc-
cess, and ask for a roll.
Shutting down on e part of a complex trap us ua lly
requires multiple s uccesses. As a default, it takes three
successful checks or actions to disable an e lement. The
first successful check might reduce the element's saving
throw DC or attack bonus. The second successful c heck
might halve the e le ment's damage, and the final suc-
cessful check shuts it down.
For elements that don't attack , a llow each s uccessful
c heck to reduce that e lement's effectiveness by one-
third. A lock's DC is decreased, or a gate opens wide
enoug h to allow a Small ch a racter to squeeze through
it. A mechanism pumping poison gas into the room be-
comes defective, caus ing the gas's damage to increase
more s lowly or not at a ll.
It takes time to disable a complex trap. Three c harac-
ters can't make checks in rapid s uccession to disarm a
complex trap in a matte r of seconds. Each would get in
COMPLEX TRAPS AND LEGEND A RY MONST ERS
A complex trap is like a legendary monster in some ways.
It has several tricks it can use on its tu rn, and it remains
a threat throughout the round, not just on its turn. The
trap's active elements are like a legendary creature's nor-
mal actions, and its constant e lements are equivalent to
legendary actions-except t hey are tied to specific areas in
the trapped room.
Although a legendary creature can move, improviseactio ns, and so forth, a trap is set to a specific script-an
aspect that has the potential to make a complex trap stale
and predictable. That's where dynamic elements come in.
They keep the players on their toes and make d ealing with
a complex trap feel like a challenging, evolving situation.a nother character's way and disrupt the effor t. Once a
character s ucceeds on a check, a nother character can't
attempt the same c heck against the same trap element
until th e end of the successful character's next turn.
Not all of the characters' options need to be focused
o n s topping a trap from operating. Think of what charac-
ters can do to mitigate or avoid a trap's effects. Making
the trap vulnerable to this sort of effort is a way to e n-
gage characters who might be ill-suited to confro nt the
tra p directly. A successful Intelligence (Religion) check
might provide insight into the imagery displayed by a
tra p in a temple or s h rine, giving other characters a clue
a bout how and where to direct their efforts. A character
could stand in front of a dart trap while holding a shield
that the darts can target harmlessly, while other charac-
ters trigger that element as they work to disable it.Downtime Revisited
It's possible for the cha racters to start a campaign at 1 st
level, dive into an epic story, a nd reach 10th level and
beyond in a short amount of game time. Although that
pace works fine for many campaigns, some DMs prefer
a campa ign story with pauses built into it-times when
adventurer s are not going on adventures. T he downtime
rules given in this section can be used as a lternatives to
the approach in the Player's Handbook and the Dungeon
Master's Guide, or you can use the material here to in-
spire the creation o f your own o ptions.
By e ngaging the characters in downtime activities that
take weeks o r even months to complete, you can give
your campaign a lo nger time line-one in w hich events
in the world play out over years. Wars begin and end, ty-
rants com e and go, and r oyal lines rise and fall over the
course of the story that you and t he characters tell.
Downtime r ules also provide ways for characte rs to
spend-or be relieved of- the monetary treasure they
amass on their adventures.
The system presented here consists of two elements.
First, it introduces the concept of rivals. Second, it de-
tails a number of downtime activities that characters
can underta ke.R ivals
Rivals are NPCs who o ppose the c haracter s and make
their presence felt whenever the characters are engag-
ing in downtime. A rival might be a villain you have
featured in past adventures or plan to use in the future.
Rivals can a lso include good or neutral folk who are at
odds with' the characters, w hether because they have
opposing goals or they simply dislike one another. The
c ultist of Orcus w hose plans the characters have foiled,
the a mbitious merchant prince who wants to rule the
city with an iron fist, and the nosy high p riest of Helm
who is convinced the cha racters are up to no good are
all examples of rivals.
A rival's agenda changes over time. Though the char-
acters engage in downtime only between adventures,
their rivals rarely rest, cont inui ng to spin plots and work
against the c haracters even when the characters are off
doing something else.CHAPTER 2 I DUNGEON .MAST.ER'S TOOLS