requires some deduction. The characters might succeed on the check but still trigger the trap if
they don’t understand what they have learned.
Effects
Designing a trap’s effects is a straightforward process. The tables for saving throw DCs, attack
bonuses, damage, and the like give you a starting point for most simple traps that deal damage.
For traps with more complex effects, your best starting point is to use the Spell Equivalent by
Level table to find the best match for your trap’s intended effect. Spells are a good starting point
because they are compact pieces of game design that deliver specific effects.
If you are using a spell as a starting point, check to see if you need to tweak its effects to fit the
trap’s nature. For instance, you can easily change the damage type a spell delivers or the saving
throw it requires.
Disarming a Simple Trap
Only one successful ability check is required to disarm a simple trap. Imagine how your trap
operates, and then think about how the characters could overcome it. More than one kind of
ability check might be possible. Some traps are so poorly concealed that they can be discovered
or circumvented without active effort. For instance, a hidden pit trap is effectively disarmed as
soon as the characters notice it. After that, they can simply walk around it, or they can climb
down one side, walk across the bottom of the pit, and climb up the other side.
Once you determine how a trap can be disarmed or avoided, decide the appropriate ability and
skill combinations that characters can use. A Dexterity check using thieves’ tools, a Strength
(Athletics) check, and an Intelligence (Arcana) check are all commonly used for this purpose.
A Dexterity check using thieves’ tools can apply to any trap that has a mechanical element.
Thieves’ tools can be used to disable a trip wire or a pressure plate, disassemble a poison needle
mechanism, or clog a valve that leaks poisonous gas into a room.
A Strength check is often the method for thwarting traps that can be destroyed or prevented from
operating through the use of brute force. A scything blade can be broken, a sliding block can be
held in place, or a net can be torn apart.
A magic trap can be disabled by someone who can undermine the magic used to power it.
Typically, a successful Intelligence (Arcana) check enables a character to figure out how a magic
trap functions and how to negate its effect. For instance, the character could discover that a statue
that belches a jet of magical flame can be disabled by shattering one of its glass eyes.
Once you know what kind of check is called for, you then determine what happens on a failed
attempt to disable the trap. Depending on the kind of check involved and the nature of the trap,
you might determine that any failed check has negative consequences — usually involving the
triggering of the trap. At other times, you could assign a number that the check must exceed to